Egypt's Exports to South Korea Increase by 62%

Minister of Trade and Industry Nivine Gamea. (Reuters)
Minister of Trade and Industry Nivine Gamea. (Reuters)
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Egypt's Exports to South Korea Increase by 62%

Minister of Trade and Industry Nivine Gamea. (Reuters)
Minister of Trade and Industry Nivine Gamea. (Reuters)

The value of trade exchange between Egypt and South Korean increased by 46.9% in the first 10 months of 2021, amounting to $890 million, compared to $286.6 million during the same period in 2020, Egypt’s trade minister announced Sunday.

During the same period in 2021, Egypt’s exports to the South Korean market rose by 62.3 percent to reach $531.5 million, up from $327.5 million during the same period in 2020, Minister of Trade and Industry Nivine Gamea said during a virtual meeting with her South Korean counterpart Yeo Han-Koo.

The products exchanged mainly include oil products, cement, granite, aluminum, ready-made garments, machines and equipment, as well as cars and medical devices, Gamea noted.

Cairo is keen to develop joint economic cooperation ties with South Korea to unprecedented levels, the minister stressed.

South Korea is considered one of Egypt’s key trade partners in the Eastern and Southeastern Asia region and a major source for transferring advanced industrial expertise and technologies to the Egyptian industry, she continued.

Visits between both countries’ senior officials have recently intensified, she noted.

Gamea said President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s visit to the Korean capital, Seoul, in 2016 had paved the way for the launch of a new phase of distinguished bilateral ties in various fields and at various levels.

Yeo, for his part, said South Korea hails the great success achieved by the Egyptian economic reform program and its positive contribution to the economy.

He pointed to the 3.6% growth rate in 2020 despite the coronavirus pandemic and its negative repercussions on various global economies.

The Korean government is keen to boost joint cooperation with its Egyptian counterpart in the fields of trade, investment, industry, energy, health, and specifically in means of addressing the pandemic, the minister stated.

He pointed to the importance of joint bilateral cooperation in the areas of trade facilitation and supply chain development to achieve economic recovery for both countries in light of the pandemic.



China Expands Visa-free Entry to More Countries in Bid to Boost Economy

Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
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China Expands Visa-free Entry to More Countries in Bid to Boost Economy

Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

China announced Friday that it would expand visa-free entry to citizens of nine more countries as it seeks to boost tourism and business travel to help revive a sluggish economy.
Starting Nov. 30, travelers from Bulgaria, Romania, Malta, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Estonia, Latvia and Japan will be able to enter China for up to 30 days without a visa, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said.
That will bring to 38 the number of countries that have been granted visa-free access since last year. Only three countries had visa-free access previously, and theirs had been eliminated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The permitted length of stay for visa-free entry is being increased from the previous 15 days, Lin said, and people participating in exchanges will be eligible for the first time. China has been pushing people-to-people exchange between students, academics and others to try to improve its sometimes strained relations with other countries, The Associated Press reported.
China strictly restricted entry during the pandemic and ended its restrictions much later than most other countries. It restored the previous visa-free access for citizens of Brunei and Singapore in July 2023, and then expanded visa-free entry to six more countries — France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia — on Dec. 1 of last year.
The program has since been expanded in tranches. Some countries have announced visa-free entry for Chinese citizens, notably Thailand, which wants to bring back Chinese tourists.
For the three months from July through September this year, China recorded 8.2 million entries by foreigners, of which 4.9 million were visa-free, the official Xinhua News Agency said, quoting a Foreign Ministry consular official.