Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has begun an Asian tour taking him to South Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia as Cairo seeks to deepen strategic cooperation with Asian countries amid turmoil in the Middle East. The trip will focus heavily on strengthening economic partnerships, according to experts, who point to presidential diplomacy as an important tool in attracting major foreign investment to Egypt in recent years. Cairo is also seeking to draw high-tech industries from the three countries. Sisi headed to South Korea on Tuesday on the first leg of his tour, which will also take him to Malaysia and Indonesia. The Egyptian presidency said Sisi would hold talks with his South Korean counterpart, Lee Jae Myung, and take part in a roundtable with executives and representatives of major Korean companies. Lee visited Cairo last November, his first trip to Egypt since taking office in June of that year. Egypt has sought to strengthen ties with East Asian countries through bilateral visits and participation in multilateral forums. Among those efforts was Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty’s participation in meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Manila in late July. At the time, Egypt’s Foreign Ministry described the participation as part of a diplomatic drive to develop relations with ASEAN members and broaden political, economic and development cooperation. Former Egyptian Assistant Foreign Minister Gamal Bayoumi views Sisi’s visit to Asia as an extension of Egypt’s foreign policy approach of diversifying relations with international partners. “The visit has political and economic objectives, particularly in light of regional developments and their repercussions for the economies of countries in the region,” Bayoumi told Asharq Al-Awsat. He expects the trip to bolster economic partnerships with East Asian countries, whose large markets offer significant trade opportunities. Their advanced manufacturing technologies also create scope for investment partnerships with Egypt, he added. Bayoumi pointed to Al-Azhar as another asset in Cairo’s relations with the region, given the ties many citizens of these countries have with education at the Egyptian institution. Official figures show trade between Egypt and South Korea reached $995.3 million from January through September 2025, down from $1.2 billion during the same period in 2024. South Korean investment in Egypt totaled $413.8 million in the 2024/2025 fiscal year, compared with $288.3 million the previous year. The Egyptian government is seeking to attract more industrial investment from Asian countries, including South Korea, according to Walid Gaballah, a member of the Egyptian Society for Political Economy, Statistics and Legislation. While Cairo enjoys political coordination with these countries, Gaballah argued that economic cooperation has yet to match the level of political ties. He stressed that a country such as South Korea possesses advanced manufacturing technology that could be localized in Egyptian industrial zones, including the Suez Canal Economic Zone. Gaballah told Asharq Al-Awsat that Egypt’s presidential diplomacy had played a significant role in attracting major investments in recent years. He added that economic issues are therefore expected to take priority during Sisi’s visits to the three Asian countries, particularly given the potential of their economies as Cairo looks to diversify its partnerships.
