The Egyptian embassy held a reception last Thursday to take stock of the last 20 years of diplomatic relations with Korea and look ahead to the dynamic future.

“Over the last 20 years, our countries have achieved so much together, much more than with any other countries with longer relations.” Egyptian Ambassador Hany Selim said.

“Our current relations speak about our determination for cooperation. Egypt has an ambition to learn Korea’s model of development, best known as the Miracle of the Han River.”

Ambassador Shin Dong-ik, the Korean Deputy Minister for Multilateral and Global Affairs said, “When people reach the age of 20, Koreans call it ‘sung-nyun,’ meaning adulthood. Our relations have matured out of adolescence since 1995.”

While pointing out to the bilateral summit meeting last September on the margin of the U.N. General Assembly, Shin said people-to-people exchange is also on the rise, as over 30,000 Koreans visit Egypt every year for travel and work. 

Ain Shams University in Cairo opened the Arabic region’s first Korean language department in 2005. The Korean government opened a Korean culture center in Cairo last October.

Samsung Electronics is operating a factory in Egypt, hiring 2,700 locals and exporting $800 million worth of products to neighboring countries.

“Egypt has a strong leadership, strategic location, sufficient labor and sizeable market, attracting foreign investment,” he said.

“Building on Korea President Park Geun-hye’s Middle East tour in March, our government is seeking to expand ties with all countries in the region. The combination of Egypt’s potential and Korea’s skills will create tremendous synergies.”

The deputy minister stressed that despite Egypt’s political troubles in recent years, Korean companies did not relocate and even increased investment. The spirit of mutual trust should be cherished for a future beyond the last 20 years, he added.

By Joel Lee (joel@heraldcorp.com)