The Korean embassy in Cairo and the Egyptian ministry of finance held a webinar discussing Korean experiences in development on Thursday, the embassy said.

The webinar was attended by Korean ambassador to Cairo Hong Jin-Wook, Egyptian Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait, and Egyptian Ambassador to Seoul Hazem Fahmy.

“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 and the Ministry of Finance of Egypt — organised a webinar on sharing Korean experiences in development on December 3,” the embassy said.

The embassy’s statement said that the webinar came in response to President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi’s directives to exchange knowledge and experience with the Republic of Korea on developing policies for stimulating domestic consumption and encouraging people to replace and renew durable goods such as obsolete vehicles.

The webinar reviewed Korea’s industrialisation experiences, automobile industry, and policies for the shipbuilding industry.

During the webinar, Maait briefed the Korean party on the prospects of the Egyptian economy, adding that the recent economic reforms 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 realise positive growth rates of 3.8%, which is the 2nd highest worldwide, the minister said.

He added that there was improvement in the business environment owing to the automation of customs and tax procedures, pointing to the government’s launched initiatives that ensure a more equitable and fair distribution of growth.