South Korean Ambassador Hong Jin-wook paid an official visit to Alexandria on Wednesday.
The envoy met with Chairman of Alexandria Port Authority Tarek Shahin, Director of Bibliotheca Alexandrina Mostafa el-Feki, and Governor of Alexandria Mohamed el-Sherif.
During the meeting, the South Korean envoy pointed to the memorandum of understanding signed between Busan Port Authority (BPA) and Alexandria Port Authority in September 2015, and the co-operation protocol between the Korean Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and the Egyptian Ministry of Transport on the development of Alexandria port in March 2016.
Hong expressed hope that co-operation between the two sides could be further consolidated.
The South Korean ambassador added that he was looking forward to furthering co-operation between Cairo and Seoul, since the South Korean government has designated Egypt as a priority country for the Official Development Assistance )ODA) for the next five years.
“This step will help realise more tangible co-operation projects between the two countries,” the envoy said.
Ambassador Hong requested the support of Alexandria Port Authority for handling their trade, which contributes greatly to the Egyptian economy.
For his part, Shahin said he hoped for more investments from South Korean companies.
The head of the Alexandria Port Authority stressed the importance of capacity building and knowledge sharing on port management within the framework of the existing MoU between the two port authorities.
Shahin accompanied Ambassador Hong on a tour of major facilities and development work at Alexandria port.
During his meeting with Director of Bibliotheca Alexandrina Mostafa el-Feki, Ambassador Hong noted the importance of cultural co-operation between the two countries, including the archiving systems and the documentation project using the Korean traditional paper (hanji), as well as the contribution of South Korean companies through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities.
El-Feki said cultural co-operation between Cairo and Seoul must be strengthened; taking advantage of South Korea’s advanced information technology and Egypt’s rich culture heritage.
During his meeting with the governor of Alexandria yesterday, Ambassador Hong requested support to the Korean companies operating in Alexandria, stressing the need to activate an agreement concluded between Alexandria Governorate and Incheon City.
The governor, for his part, thanked the South Korean government for the ongoing co-operation on the urban transport modernisation project through the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, stressing that the governorate will continue its support for the success of the project.
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