CAIRO, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in's three-day visit to Egypt concluded on Friday pushes forward bilateral ties and paves the way for a new stage of partnership, according to political and economic experts.
Moon's visit to the Egyptian capital Cairo, the first visit to Egypt by a South Korean president in 16 years, was part of his regional tour after the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia.
"It is mainly an economy-driven visit, considering South Korea's strategy in the past few years to reinforce investments in Middle Eastern countries, especially in the three countries," said Mokhtar Gobashy, vice chairman of Cairo-based Arab Centre for Political and Strategic Studies.
"Egypt is the first African country that Moon visits during his presidential term. South Korea views Egypt as a center of gravity for business and politics in the Middle East and Africa," South Korea's Ambassador to Cairo Hong Jin-Wook told a press conference last week.
"The main objective of the visit is to activate and enforce the comprehensive partnership agreement signed between the two countries during Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi's visit to Seoul in March 2016," said Gobashy.
With the ambition to be an important player in the African arena, South Korea hopes to access the continent through Egypt, he said, noting that "Egypt is an important base for attracting investments and resolving regional political issues."
On Thursday, Egyptian and South Korean presidents witnessed the signing ceremony of several memoranda of understanding, including a one-billion-U.S. dollar deal on financial cooperation from 2022 to 2026, and a 251-million-dollar loan provided by South Korea to upgrade the Luxor-High Dam railway line.
The two sides also signed a Korean grant worth 8 million U.S. dollars.
"Egypt seeks to attract South Korean companies and investments in major development projects and infrastructure projects, as well as in the fields of energy, mining, transportation, communications, and information technology," according to a statement by Egypt's presidency.
The two countries agreed to form a joint committee that will examine for six months the possibility of drafting "a free trade agreement."
"The visit is an opportunity to push the bilateral ties forward," said Egyptian economist Walid Gaballah.
During the visit, South Korean companies have promised to provide technical support for the construction of Egypt's Dabaa nuclear power plant west of Alexandria, in cooperation with the Russian state company of Rosatom.
"South Korea's choice of Egypt as a strategic partner in the Middle East and North Africa reflects the success of Egypt's economic reform policies," added the economic expert.
Meanwhile, Tariq Fahmy, professor of political sciences with Cairo University, said that "Egypt was one of the first countries that recognized the independence of South Korea in 1948 and the two countries have a long history of cooperation."
Choosing Egypt as a strategic partner means "bilateral ties will see momentum in the field of localizing Korean technologies in the country." ■
