Africa-Korea Trade & Industry Forum 2025 Successfully Held

The Korea-Africa Foundation successfully held the 「Africa-Korea Trade & Industry Forum 2025」on Monday, December 15, at the Crystal Room of the Koreana Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul.

The forum was hosted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources (MOTIR) and organized by the Korea-Africa Foundation(KAF). The event brought together around 100 participants, including Deputy Minister for Trade, Park Jung Sung, President of KAF, Kim Young-chae, Dean of African Group of Ambassadors(AGA) and Ambassador of Morocco to Korea, Chafik Rachadi, as well as ambassador-level officials from 12 African countries and representatives from the business community.

The forum focused on sharing the outcomes of Africa-Korea economic cooperation initiatives connected with the G20 Summit that was held for the first time on the African continent this year, as well as strengthening corporate case-sharing and future cooperation momentum.

In Session 1, “G20 Outcomes & the Future of Korea-Africa Partnership,” Dr. Kang Munsu, Research Fellow at the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP), highlighted key cooperation agendas identified through the G20 summit engagements and discussed future directions for bilateral trade and industrial cooperation. This was followed by presentations from Ambassador Hazem Zaki of Egypt and Commercial Counselor Hazem Nasr of the Embassy of Egypt in Korea, who introduced Egypt’s economic and industrial environment and explored opportunities for cooperation with Korea. Timothy Dickens, Chairman of the South African Chamber of Commerce in Korea, then presented economic cooperation opportunities from South Africa’s perspective, emphasizing the importance of building a mutually beneficial partnership.

In Session 2, “Korea-Africa Business Engagement & Business Market Entry Cases,” recent cooperation outcomes and the on-the-ground experiences of Korean companies operating in Africa were shared. Hahn Junghee, Director General of Economic Cooperation Department at KOTRA, presented cooperation achievements linked to G20-related economic events, while Jinwook Chung, CEO of OHYoung Inc., shared market entry strategies based on his company’s 30 years of business experience in Egypt’s chemical and dye industries.

Lastly, Session 3, “Korea-Africa Cooperation with African RECs,” featured Ambassador Emmy Jerono Kipsoi of Kenya to Korea and Associate Research Fellow Han Seoni of KIEP, who introduced cooperation opportunities with regional economic communities such as the East African Community (EAC) and emphasized the importance of tailored, region-specific cooperation strategies.

△ Africa-Korea Trade & Industry Forum 2025 Event Hall Full Frontal

△ Group photo of major guests at the forum

△ Kim Young-chae, President of the Korea-Africa Foundation, emphasized that the forum will expand economic exchanges between the two regions amid the momentum of the 2024 Korea-Africa Summit, the 2025 South African G20 summit, and the 2026 Korea-Africa Foreign Affairs Ministers' Meeting.

△ Park Jung-sung, Deputy Minister for Trade at MOTIR, promised to expand trade cooperation with Africa amid strengthening protection trade and restructuring supply chains, and to expand cooperation in the supply chain and infrastructure sectors, and said he expects the forum to be a priming point for Korea-Africa cooperation.

△ Chafik Rachadi, Moroccan Ambassador to Korea and Dean of African Group of Ambassadors(AGA), explained that the win-win partnership between Korea and Africa has reached positive momentum, stressing that the forum will be an opportunity for the two regions to build trust and practical cooperation in terms of balanced trade, investment and sustainable growth.

△ Kang Munsu, Research Fellow at the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP), explained that Korea is strengthening solidarity with Africa on global agendas such as AI, critical minerals, and climate change, and will contribute to achieving Africa's sustainable development goals by 2030 through reciprocal partnerships that support local industrialization and human capacity building beyond aid.

△ Egyptian Ambassador to Korea, Hazem Zaki, and Commerical Counselor, Hazem Nasr, explained Egypt's strength as a strategic point, and they hope that Korea will use it to build local production bases in home appliances, automobiles, and green energy, and that Egypt will leap forward as a base for Korean industries to enter Europe and Africa through high-level exchanges and reorganization of business councils between the two countries.

△ Timothy Dickens, Chairman of the South African Chamber of Commerce in Korea(SAFCHAM), explained that Korea and Africa should strengthen mutually beneficial partnerships by securing debt sustainability, financial support for energy transition, investment in infrastructure and manufacturing industries that combine Korea's technology and digital economic cooperation.

△ Hahn Junghee, Director General of KOTRA(Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency)'s economic cooperation department, elaborated that KOTRA is expanding the foundation for Korean companies to enter Africa, including project Plaza, business meeting, and K-beauty showcase, in conjunction with the South African G20 Summit, and creating customized economic cooperation results in the region by bridging the information gap and strengthening the network.

△ Based on OHYoung's 30 years of business experience in Egypt, Chung Jinwook, CEO of OHYoung Inc., a manufacturing company specializing in synthetic dyes for textiles, advised that Korean companies' entry into Africa should extend beyond simple exports to long-term partnerships including technical support and fostering local industries.

△ Emmy Jerono KIPSOI, Ambassador of Kenya to Korea, stressed that the East African Community (EAC) is building an integrated market based on a population of more than 300 million and a customs union, and that Korea should resolve trade imbalances and strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation through the promotion of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) and advancement into key infrastructure sectors such as railways, medical care, and automobiles.

△ Han Seoni, Associate Research Fellow at the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP), stressed that Korea should strengthen mutually beneficial partnerships by signing customized trade agreements based on regional characteristics in line with the flow of economic integration based on African regional economic communities (RECs) and AfCFTA, and by supporting technology transfer and local value chain establishment.