Hamburg,time in Yasni Exposé of Felix Abt

The Paperback "A Capitalist in North Korea" - is on sale in 2014 and gives a fresh perspective of a country that has been depicted for the last sixty years by book authors and media as stuck in the past, unpredictable, threatening, horrific and crazy. - THIS BOOK is witness to a different, changing North Korea: "A Capitalist in North Korea: My Seven Years in the Hermit Kingdom is the tell-all memoir of Felix Abt, a Swiss entrepreneur who worked in the world's most isolated, often called "Stalinist" fortress, for the last decade. Abt offers in-depth portraits of the thrills, adventures, hurdles and even accusations of spying while working behind the world's very last Iron Curtain. He finds a side of North Korea that is far from sinister—one that has been lost in the flood of accounts from defectors, journalists, activists, and politicians who have pummeled the nation into isolation. - The author was privileged to have been granted wide access to the hermit kingdom where he visited seven out of nine provinces and more than two dozen cities, interviewing hundreds of high-ranking communist officials and ordinary North Koreans. He became a figurehead in bringing capitalism to North Korea through all sorts of whimsical and unexpected projects: the Pyongyang Business School, the European Business Association in Pyongyang, and ventures in pharmaceuticals, precious metal extraction, and bottled water. - Did you know, for instance, that plastic surgery and South Korean drama shows are all the rage among the women of Pyongyang? That the capital offers a line-up of decent hamburger joints? That young North Koreans are eagerly signing up for business courses in preparation for market reforms? And that United Nations sanctions are the biggest obstacle to doing legitimate business in the DPRK? With more than 200 photographs taken by the author, A Capitalist in North Korea offers an account of the unknown aspects of North Korea, looking beyond tales of famine and suffering." - The e-book has been sold by Amazon since the end of 2012. - The PAPERBACK will be out before summer 2014. The new book cover was designed by the publishers. ORDER IT AT AMAZON OR HERE: http://www.tuttlepublishing.com/authors/abt-f elix/a-capitalist-in-north-korea-hardcover-wi th-jacket - Read the author's updated stories and comments on his Facebook page. And thanks for liking the page and for your feedback :-) here: www.facebook.com/ACapitalistInNorthKorea -

"북한 정부 경제 개발 제1 과제로 추진할 것" 김정일 사후 북한의 새로운 정권이 경제 개발을 최우선 과제로 추진할 것이라는 전망이 나왔다. 평양주재 `유럽기업협회(EBA)' 초대회장을 지낸 스위스인 사업가 펠릭스 앱트는 20일 본지와의 이메일 인터뷰를 통해 "새로운 리더십 아래 북한에서의 비즈니스 연속성이 보장될 것으로 알고 있다"며 "이는 북한의 새로운 정부가 경제 개발을 제1의 과제로 추진하려고 하기 때문"이라고 말했다. (...) 펠릭스 앱트 대표는 북한내 기업 사정에 정통한 인물들 중 한 명으로, 현재 진행하고 있는 사업과 관련해 북한 관료들과 지속적으로 접촉을 하고 있는 것으로 알려지고 있다. 펠릭스 앱트 대표의 이번 발언은 북한 정부 관계자들로부터 북한내 해외 기업활동에 대해 답변을 받은 것으로 해석되고 있다. (...) 펠릭스 앱트 대표는 평양페인터즈 운영에 집중하고 있는데 이를 더욱 확대할 계획이다. 평양페인터즈는 북한 유명 화가들의 회화, 동양화 등을 해외에 판매하는 회사로 웹사이트를 운영하고 있다. 그는 "공개할 수는 없지만 평양페인터즈에서 꾸준히 매출이 나오고 있으며 한국 고객들에게도 그림이 팔리고 있다"며 "주로 개인 고객들을 대상으로 판매하는데 내년에 대형 미술상을 모아 비즈니스 하는 방안을 계획하고 있다"고 말했다.

2010-08-20 [] - by Christine Ahn  Felix Abt, a Swiss businessman running a pharmaceutical company in North Korea during the mid-2000s, was unable to receive certain chemicals for his business and told Time magazine, "someday you may find out that some product or even a ...

2010-10-29T18:11:16 [TIME] - But Felix Abt, the former head of the European Business Association in Pyongyang, a de facto chamber of commerce, claims SEK still has overseas clients

Few investors can boast the one-of-a-kind global pedigree of Felix Abt. Since 2002, the Swiss businessman has found his calling as a point man for Western investments in — of all places — North Korea, where he ... Time magazine, May 20, 2010

The largest collection of paintings from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) ever shown in Southeast Asia was put on display at the Nha Trang Sea festival last week. The paintings were produced by more than two dozen artists with recognized artists – so-called Merited artists – and emerging talents all contributing. The exhibition included a series of beautiful paintings in a variety of styles and materials – prints, watercolour, oil, pencil drawings and “jewel-powdered paintings”, a Korean specialty art. The painting collection belongs to Swiss businessman Felix Abt and his Hanoi-born wife Doan Lan Huong, who lived and worked in Pyongyang for seven years, where they got to know and love North Korean arts. “Much to our surprise we noticed that (artistic) talents are identified very early in a person’s life and systematically fostered thereafter. As a consequence a high number end up as painters with extraordinary skills. Unfortunately this is largely ignored by the outside world,” says Felix Abt. - Timeout (Supplement to the Vietnam Investment Review, Vietnam's leading english language business newspaper, published by the Ministry of Planning and Investment), Hanoi

The recent launch of a U.K.-based investment fund directed at North Korea suggests that beneath the tensions, there is still optimism in business circles that political problems can be resolved, and North Korea can become an attractive and profitable destination for foreign direct investment. One such businessman is Felix Abt, the president of the European Business Association based in Pyongyang. In this email interview with The Korea Herald, Abt said he is confident that North Korea-based businesses will, as they have with previous crises, weather this latest political storm. Question: What was your initial reaction to news of regulatory approval for the Chosun Fund? Felix Abt: Since it is perfectly legal for a British company to do business with the DPRK, it was not a surprise that the British authorities gave regulatory approval. However, the U.S. government will continue putting pressure on foreign banks and other companies to dissuade them from doing legitimate business with the DPRK, or with Iran for that matter. The Times of London recently ran an article with the title "U.S. pressure threatens U.K. firms in Iran." Of course, economic and psychological warfare is an old U.S. tactic. Given the size of the U.S. economy relative to that of who they consider the enemy, it is unlike a military war. It is usually relatively painless, risk free and, of course, much less costly.

.... Felix Abt, the president of the Pyongyang European Business Association said: "We want to show reason and decency, and we want to avoid the long list of sanctions which will only affect civilians and lead to a food shortage." He added: "We don't want to see humanitarian aid. We want to see small European enterprises developing business with partners here so as to engage North Korea, not isolate it further." By Peter Simpson in Pyongyang - The Daily Telegraph, London, November 1, 2006

The first class of 30 graduates graduated from the Pyongyang Business School, the first management school in North Korea. The Financial Times (FT) reported on August 19 from Pyongyang that the school, a sign of change in North Korea, aims to establish an MBA program. The FT’s Seoul bureau chief, Anna Fifield, is staying in Pyongyang for two weeks and writing a “North Korea journal.” North Korea is the most closed nation in the world, but decided to open up its market to foreign investment on an experimental basis. The country delegated the authority of decision-making, once centralized, to each state enterprise through economic reforms in 2002. Since then, corporate executives have played bigger roles. Now, when asked about their future goals, more children answer that they want to be businessmen, English teachers in Pyongyang say.

But the Westerners talk positively about the North as a business environment, with skilled workers and leaders who they say welcome foreign investment. "They are very skillful and hardworking," said Felix Abt, a Swiss businessman who oversees two ventures in Pyongyang, one that makes business and game software for sale in Europe and another that makes antibiotics and painkillers for the domestic market. "It's sometimes faster to get licenses and necessary approvals here than it is in China or Vietnam." - The Washington Post, November 5, 2006

Still, increasing numbers of foreigners are trying their luck as the world’s most isolated state warily opens its doors to business. “North Korea is changing and we are living proof of that,” says Felix Abt, who represents ABB and Sandvik, the engineering companies, and is chairman of the European Business Association in Pyongyang. - The Financial Times, London, September 1, 2005

"L'industrie pharmaceutique nord-coréenne ne pourra pas se développer si les humanitaires inondent la Corée du Nord de médicaments étrangers. Elle continuera à végéter et à fabriquer des produits de sous-qualité si les étrangers n'achètent pas des médicaments locaux", estime le Suisse Felix Abt, directeur de la compagnie PyongSu Pharma JV. Co Ltd., une des premières JV étrangères en Corée du Nord. Depuis septembre 2004, Pyongsu, qui a installé une pharmacie "modèle" à Pyongyang, fabrique notamment du paracétamol, de l'aspirine et des antibiotiques dans une usine de 30 employés, avec l'ambition d'exporter ces médicaments un jour. "Pour le moment, on donne le poisson aux Nord-Coréens. Il faudrait plutôt leur donner le filet pour attrapper le poisson", plaide M. Abt. - Reportage de l’AFP par Philippe AGRET à Sariwon (Corée du Nord), le 26 avril 2007.

Felix Abt (born on 15 January 1955 in Switzerland), "a well-known North Korean affairs specialist"(Yonhap), is considered a prime reference point on investment and business issues in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). Abt is one of the first foreign business pioneers in North Korea where he was living from 2002 to 2009 and developing and operating various businesses. In addition, he was co-founder and school director of the Pyongyang Business School where he was involved in capacity building related to business administration for senior executives of North Korean government agencies and enterprises. He has been featured and interviewed by numerous media, including CNN, FOXNews, ABC BBC, Le Monde, Handelsblatt, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, AFP, Businessweek, The Financial Times and Bloomberg and has been giving advice to business associations

Doan Huong La and her Swiss husband Felix Abt, owner of the gallery, said that North Korea had a lot of talented artists worthy of world recognition. ...

Felix Abt: At the time the Swiss-Swedish ABB, a global leader in power and automation technologies, not only faced huge asbesto claims in the United States but also large debts ...

Dr. Barbara Unterbeck — PR-manager. European Business Association President´s Office Chang Gwang Foreign Residential and Office Building 10th Floor, No. ...

Felix Abt: At the time the Swiss-Swedish ABB, a global leader in power and ... Felix Abt: I always felt that there are plenty of m…

Source: Timeout / Weekly supplement of Vietnam Investment Review, Vietnam's Leading International Business Newspaper, June 17, 2009 via email from Felix Abt ...

Felix Abt, "North Korea - a demanding business environment. Advice on investment and doing business", German Asia-Pacific Business Association, Hamburg, Sept 2009 [1]

Felix Abt, "North Korea - a demanding business environment. Advice on investment and doing business", German Asia-Pacific Business Association, Hamburg, Sept 2009 [1]