Posts will be intermittent as everyone heads into the summer. It is a period of transition for everyone but now that we have finally put together everything (something we should have done two years ago when this effort really started in earnest), things are looking good. This summer will be a busy month for me as there will be a series of really interesting and important meetings: 1. Early May - St Gallen Symposium in Switzerland (Trying to meet Egyptian investors in North Korea to pitch for their support on our education project)
2. Mid-May - Travel in Turkey and Syria (A major to-do item after reading books on Syria’s political organization)
3. Late May - Receive award at World Bank Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics in Sweden for work on legal structures for youth entrepreneurship (Chance to tap Bank’s expertise to provide content to North Korea and meet the Swedes working on technical assistance to North Korea)
4. Mid July - Receive award at Australia National University’s East Asia Forum for political analysis in an article (Chance to meet Australians working on technical assistance to North Korea)
One of the ideas I am thinking of exploring is for all the groups offering technical assistance to North Korea in certain fields should have some knowledge sharing or coordinator. A rudimentary database with dates of events, participant groups, content and feedback would be helpful for everyone to improve their work.