South Korean Ambassador discusses more cooperation in Upper Egypt

CAIRO - 21 December 2023: Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Egypt Kim Yonghyon continued his visit to Upper Egypt and met with Sohag Governor Major General Tarek Mohamed Elfiki on 20th of December to discuss bilateral cooperation.

Ambassador Kim shared with Governor Elfiki the latest developments in bilateral relations between Korea and Egypt including major projects such as Hyundai Rotem’s train signal modernization project between Luxor and Nag Hammadi.

He expressed his hope that such high level of bilateral cooperation at the national level will expand to the local government level as well.

Ambassador Kim also praised that Sohag has made great achievements in implementing Haya Karima initiative and said Korea would continue to cooperate to help Egypt make further progress by, among others, introducing Egypt to Korea’s Saemaul movement that had contributed in developing Korea’s rural areas in the 60’s and 70’s.

On his part, Governor Elfiki said the Sohag government was working hard to improve the quality of life for Sohag people, highlighting Sohag’s recent achievements in implementing Haya Karima initiative. The governor said the cooperation between Korea and Sohag would be mutually beneficial as Korean companies could take advantage of its favorable geographical location and affordable production costs.

On the occasion of his visit to Sohag, Ambassador Kim attended an interactive theatre performance titled, "Abbas' Nightmare", organized in collaboration

with the Egyptian Family Planning Association (EFPA) and Y-PEER (Youth Peer Education Network), a nationwide youth-led network.

This “edutainment”(education + entertainment) activity was carried out as part of the 4 million USD program of UNFPA supported by KOICA, the Korean government's development aid agency.

The program aims to strengthen the institutional capacity building to respond to the gender-based violence and also to raise awareness and engage the community members, especially the youth, on addressing social norms around violence and harmful practices against women and girls.

Ambassador Kim said that the performance was addressing the serious issue in a very impressive and innovative way through drama and interactive dialogues. He emphasized that women empowerment was not only the issue of Sohag but a global issue to be tackleld together. Ambassador Kim went on to say that the Korean government would stand with Sohag people in addressing gender based violences including Female Genital Mutilation(FGM) and the promotion of the women's rights and empowerment.

Ambassador Kim visited Upper Egypt governorates of Luxor and Sohag from Dec 18 to 20.