NGO organizes finance, economics workshops in Pyongyang in March


It is not the first stop on most financial gurus’ lecture circuit.

But world-class economic experts are visiting North Korea to pass on their know-how to the communist country’s up-and-coming business elite.

Young students in the impoverished nation will learn about finance and economics from Chinese, European and Singaporean experts in their field next month.

The March workshop series ― focusing on risk and asset liability management ― will be held in Pyongyang for around 20 young officials and employees of state-run enterprises. It is the latest event organized by Choson Exchange, an NGO targeting students under the age of 40 to give the North’s next generation of business and financial leaders skills to navigate the international business world.

“We are trying to find the best and brightest to equip them with the knowledge to help them to navigate the global economy,” said Korea-based director Andray Abrahamian. “Those people’s careers are just beginning and those people tend to be open to new ideas. In the long run, they will be the ones in charge.”

Teaching business principles to communists in the world’s most isolated state may seem a thankless task, but for the NGO’s founder Geoffrey See it can engage the so-called Hermit Kingdom in a constructive and a-political way.

State-run enterprises are already working to attract international business and foreign investment in joint ventures. With infrastructure investment in areas such as the Raseon special economic zone, there is a thirst for commercial knowledge there like never before.

“The old generation in North Korea has very little incentive to experiment,” Abrahamian said. “This is true in any country ― younger generations tend to be open to new ideas. There’s definitely that sense in North Korea too, the young people are more interested in broader way of doing things. In that sense North Korea is going to change.”

While North Korean startups tend to be smaller branches of state enterprises, Abrahamian explained that the growing number of joint ventures with international companies has created the need of better understanding of how to manage assets and resolve disputes. Seminar attendees have asked for help in setting up ventures from chicken restaurants to a spa resort, areas that can prove lucrative if they can position themselves at the top of a state-run venture.

“The last couple of years have seen a bit of a shift in North Korea so there is more of a focus on economic issues,” he said.

“You are seeing some developments at their special economic zones in the far north, there have been positive developments there, they revised laws regarding foreign firms operating in North Korea last year and we can see the international trade numbers soaring upwards especially vis--vis the Chinese.”

The new Kim Jong-un regime has called business as usual for commerce and tours to North Korea, but teaching people that grew up under a state distribution model still has its challenges.

“Sometimes during workshops there might be a bit of awkwardness when the lecturer says something and someone says ‘No, that’s not how we do things.’” Abrahamian said.

But generally, economics can be kept to a-political, practical help such as the importance of a stable legal environment to attract investments.

A seminar in June will focus on fiscal reform and taxation systems for government officials, with a previous attendee requesting an international think tank to discuss his country’s economic issues.

“North Koreans are very interested in the outside world,” explained Abrahamian.

“Like anybody they have their own filters for how they understand that outside world but that doesn’t mean that they are hostile to these interactions that we have been trying to provide.”

Rather than trying to tell Pyongyang’s elite how to run their own show, Choson Exchange aims to give them tools to improve their country in the long term, and interact with the global capitalist system.

But funding remains a major issue for the NGO to support its North Korean proteges’ living costs in Singapore, and to pay for experts’ repeat trips to Kim Il-sung University. Currently staff work pro-bono, and seminar leaders foot their own $1,000 travel bills.

While some have questioned the worth of effectively helping a dictatorial regime generate cash, Abrahamian does not believe isolation will make North Korea a better place: “The question is, ‘How can you engage North Korea in a positive way?’”

For more information or to make a donation go to www.chosonexchange.org.

By Kristy Taylor (kirstyt@heraldcorp.com)