The event witnessed the signing of a contract with South Korea’s Hanwha Corporation for the joint- manufacturing of howitzer (EGY k9A1), a statement by the Egyptian military spokesman said.

Ahmed Khaled, the deputy minister of defence, commander of the strategic command and supervisor of military industrialization, signed two MoUs for cooperation in the field of defensive industries and logistics support.

He also inked an MoU on the principles governing cooperation in defence research and development fields between the two sides to coordinate and exchange military expertise, the statement added.

Head of the Armed Forces Armament Authority Osama Ezzat signed a contract with Hanwha Corporation to locally manufacture the howitzer system (EGY k9A1) via the companies and factories of the Egyptian National Authority for Military Production.

The ceremony was held in the presence of Chief of the South Korean government’s Defence Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) Kang Eun-ho, South Korean Ambassador to Egypt Hong Jin-wook and others.

Tuesday's deals came two weeks after Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi met his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in in Cairo, which marked the first visit by a South Korean president to Egypt in 16 years.

In a separate statement, the office the Korean president said Tuesday that the deal of providing Hanwha's K9 self-propelled howitzers to Egypt is the Asian country’s biggest export contract for the weapon, adding the deal is worth $1.6 billion.

Last week, the US Department of State announced two massive military equipment sales to Egypt comprising transport aircraft and radar systems worth over $2.5 billion.

The sale included 12 Super Hercules C-130 transport aircraft and related equipment worth $2.2 billion, in addition to air defense radar systems worth an estimated $355 million.