Conference Call with North Koreans on Overseas Education

We recently took a conference call with a North Korean to discuss Choson Exchange's work in knowledge-sharing and training in Pyongyang. The feedback was helpful as we work to compile our operational model and strategy to include in the fundraising materials we are currently preparing. Some of the points raised by our counterparts were:

1. The desire for scholarships for North Korean students to study in Singapore 2. The desire for CE to expand our current programs in finance/business/economics in Pyongyang to cover certain institutions

We promised to study these requests.

Delivering Customized Economics/Business Materials to DPRK

As part of our effort to reach out and inform audiences in the DPRK on the latest thinking on economics policy and business, we are distributing a reader in the DPRK with the following articles. Instead of shipping books to the DPRK, we focus on creating customized materials to be delivered to individual DPRKeans through our contact visiting the Ministry of Light Industry. Improving the Business Environment

1. Doing Business 2010, World Bank 2. Improving Performance at State-Owned Enterprises, McKinsey Quarterly

Managing Foreign Direct Investment

3. Making Foreign Investment Work for China, McKinsey Quarterly 4. Development Finance Report 2009 - Outlook on Foreign Direct Investment, The World Bank

Commercial & Corporate Finance

5. Basel III and Risky Banking, Knowledge@Wharton 6. ABC’s IPO Underscores the ABC of Banking in China, Knowledge@Wharton

E-Commerce

7. Can China Compete on IT Services, McKinsey Quarterly

Infrastructure Development

8. Private Sector Investment Opportunities for Public Infrastructure, McKinsey Quarterly

Singapore Tightens Sanctions on North Korea

Singapore has introduced new legislation to tighten sanctions on North Korea. Choson Exchange's work, as an education initiative, is not prohibited under these sanctions. We do not conduct any business with North Korea and we actively monitoring these developments to ensure compliance. For more information on these new legislation, read this article in Today.

Knowledge@Wharton Knowledge Partnership

Thanks to the generosity of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, we will now being able to share cutting-edge business knowledge with North Koreans through borrowing articles from its Knowledge@Wharton publication.

The Wharton School is considered one of the top business school in the world, and has been consistently ranked number 1 by the Financial Times for the last 10 years and number 2 this year (which incidentally is also one of the preferred international newspapers among political elites in North Korea).

Fundraising as Main Task

After our last training program, we have a good sense for what we can contribute, what is wanted, and a good working model for how to deliver in (both in terms of trainers and in the operational context of North Korea). Hence, our main goal now is to fund raise to make Choson Exchange more sustainable. While we can continue operating on everyone's own dime as we face rather low costs in North Korea, our main challenge is the need for at least one or two permanent staff who can maintain the channels of communication and ensure that logistics can be handled adequately. These are time-consuming and thankless tasks...but necessary.

If you have any leads on possible fund-raising idea, do contact us at CETeam@chosonexchange.org.