S. Korea shares experiences of stimulating domestic consumption with Egypt

CARO – 3 December 2020: Contributing to the initiative launched by the Egyptian government on boosting local consumption and demand for domestic products, the Korean Embassy in collaboration with Korea Institute for International Economic Policy KIEP and the Ministry of Finance of Egypt organized a webinar on sharing Korean experiences on development on December 3.

This move comes in response to H.E. President Sisi’s directives to exchange with the Republic of Korea knowledge and experience on developing policies for stimulating domestic consumption and encouraging people to replace and renew durable goods such as obsolete vehicles.

The webinar, attended by H.E. Hong Jin-wook, Ambassador of the ROK, H.E. Dr. Mohamed Maait, Minister of Finance, and H.E. Hazem Fahmy, Egyptian Ambassador to Seoul, reviewed Korea’s industrialization experiences, automobile industry and policies for the shipbuilding industry.

Ambassador Hong highlighted the significance of this webinar which comes as part of the Korean gov’t commitment to support and exchange expertise with Egypt. He added that this year is of a particular importance marking the 25th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Ambassador Hong expressed his admiration for the Egyptian government’s leadership and initiatives launched with the aim of mitigating the social economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. He added that the presidential initiative ‘Not Expensive for You’ “Mayghlash Aleik” will not only encourage domestic consumption, but also will help factories increase production and generate more job opportunities, which is of a paramount importance for Egypt’s inclusive growth. Ambassador Hong hailed the great performance of the Egyptian economy that showed resilience and maintained positive growth rates amid the coronavirus pandemic compared to other countries in the MENA region.  

The KIEP, which is a renowned Korean think tank, showed great interest in exchanging views with the Egyptian government. KIEP Director for New Southern Policy Department, Dr. Lee Kwon Hyung, said that the webinar is an opportunity to exchange views on means for industrial cooperation, particularly the automotive industry and shipbuilding which contributed to Korea’s economic growth and the great potentials to replicate Korea’s success in Egypt.

For his part, H.E. Minister Maait expressed his appreciation and thanks to the Korean government and KIEP for their support. He hailed the improvement in Egypt-Korea economic relations over the past 3 years, noting to the efforts exerted to increase Korean investments and ease obstacles facing investors. Minister Maait briefed on the prospects of the Egyptian economy. He said that Egypt’s reforms have helped improve economic performance. Despite the pandemic, Egypt’s economy was able to achieve a primary surplus of 1.8% of GDP, narrow the overall budget deficit to 7.8% and realize positive growth rates of 3.8% which is the 2nd highest worldwide. He added that there is improvement in the business environment owing to the automation of the customs and tax procedures, pointing to the government’s launched initiatives to ensure more equitable and fair distribution of growth.

Press release