The government signed a joint declaration to push for a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) with Egypt, the largest manufacturing hub in North Africa.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources said on the 18th that Yeo Han-koo, head of the Office of the Minister for Trade, visited Cairo and met with Hassan El-Khatib, Egypt's Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade. At the meeting, they signed a "joint declaration to promote a Korea-Egypt CEPA." CEPA is a type of free trade agreement (FTA) that, in addition to opening goods and services markets, aims to strengthen comprehensive cooperation.
Earlier, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI) signed a "memorandum of understanding (MOU) on trade and economic partnership" with Egypt's Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade in 2022 and has conducted a joint study on the economic feasibility assessment to pursue a CEPA. Later, at the Korea-Egypt summit in Nov. last year, the two sides agreed to push for the conclusion of a CEPA. With this signing, the two countries agreed to review the progress of their respective domestic procedures to launch CEPA negotiations and to cooperate so the talks can begin as soon as possible.
During the visit, Deputy Minister Yeo met with Gamal El-Din, chairman of the Suez Canal Economic Zone, to discuss ways for Korean corporations to enter the Suez zone. At the meeting, Yeo was said to have explained that by using the Qualified Industrial Zone (QIZ) agreement among the United States, Egypt and Israel, products made in the Suez zone can be exported to the United States under preferential terms. The idea is that it could serve as a new production base for Korean corporations to enter the U.S. market.
He also proposed establishing a regular consultative body between the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) and the zone authority to support the smooth entry of Korean corporations into the Suez zone.
Deputy Minister Yeo said, "We will move quickly from the launch of Korea-Egypt CEPA talks to a final deal," adding, "We will produce an investment guidebook reflecting the results of the Suez zone visit to provide our corporations with the information needed to enter Egypt."