President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, currently visiting here, met on Thursday with South Korean President Park Geun-hye, who expressed her happiness after signing a joint declaration with Egypt to upgrade bilateral relations into comprehensive partnership and cooperation.

Presidential Spokesman Alaa Youssef said the South Korean leader congratulated President Sisi on finalizing the last step of Egypt's road-map, namely the parliament, and the new Suez Canal project.

Sisi, for his part, said he is grateful for visiting South Korea for the first time, calling on his South Korean counterpart to boost relations between the two countries in all fields in the coming period.

Sisi briefed Park on the projects recently established in Egypt, such as the New Suez Canal project, as well legislation enacted by the Egyptian government to lure businessmen to invest in Egypt.

He also invited South Korean investors to fund national projects in Egypt, such as the Suez Canal development project, the new administrative capital and the 1.5 million feddan reclamation project.

Speaking about regional issues, Sisi called on the international community to unify efforts to uproot the growing threat of terrorism, which seeks to undermine security and stability of the Middle East.

On that score, Sisi praised efforts exerted by Al Azhar to spread the moderate teachings of Isam and refute extremist thoughts.

He also reiterated Egypt's condemnation of the nuclear test carried out by North Korea in January 2016, and called for more efforts to ease tension in the world.

Park, meanwhile, expressed her country's keenness to boost relations with Egypt in all fields, especially petrochemicals, electricity and renewable energy.

She praised steps taken by the Egyptian government to improve the investment climate in the country.

Park noted that the two countries signed a 3-billion-dollar framework agreement to fund South Korean projects in Egypt.

At the end of the meeting, Sisi invited his South Korean counterpart to visit Egypt soon.

Then, the two presidents witnessed the signing ceremony of a number of deals between the two countries in the fields of education, trade and justice.

The South Korean leader hosted a luncheon in honor of Sisi and his accompanying delegation.

Source : MENA