Eurasia Press & News
North Korean de facto head of state Kim Jong-Nam arrived in Egypt on Thursday for a visit that will include talks with President Hosni Mubarak, the official MENA news agency reported. During a two-day visit, Kim will discuss international affairs and bilateral relations with Mubarak, the official MENA news agency said, adding that he would be the Egyptian president’s guest of honour at dinner.
Kim is president of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly, the country’s rubber-stamp parliament. All power effectively rests with Kim Jong-Il, the supreme leader and son of the state’s founder.
Egypt has historically had good relations with the hardline communist state which earlier this year agreed in principle to scrap its nuclear weapons programme.
Egypt’s Orascom Construction Industries earlier this month signed a deal to invest 115 million dollars in a state-owned cement plant, Sangwon Cement.
Apart from South Korean-funded projects, foreign investment in North Korea is relatively small. A US commercial embargo has deterred many potential Western investors.
Kim Jong-Il’s father Kim Il-Sung, who died in 1994, has been declared eternal president of the communist nation.
Mubarak has visited North Korea several times.