Economic experts discuss SEZ policies and management with North Korean officials in Pyongyang in April. Photo: Courtesy of Andrey Abrahamian

Andray Abrahamian was frustrated.

When a British newspaper published an article about him headlined "The Briton teaching capitalism to North Korea," he was worried the North Korean government would take umbrage.

"Capitalism is a word that North Korea has been trying hard to avoid. What we do is help them and teach people how to do business. It has nothing to do with capitalism," 36-year-old Abrahamian, the co-founder of the Choson Exchange, told the Global Times.

Abrahamian also expressed concerns the report would have an adverse effect on what he is trying to achieve.

In recent years, Abrahamian, along with his business partner Geoffrey See, a Singaporean management consultant, launched the Choson Exchange, a NGO dedicated to importing western businessmen to teach North Koreans how to do business. The NGO has trained 267 would-be businessmen, mostly from government-run middle and small sized companies in North Korea. They teach everything from drawing up business plans to designing logos, handling inflation and brand marketing.

The best students are invited to study in Singapore for a short term. The idea, says Abrahamian, is that if one day North Korea opens up its economy, North Korean people, especially youngsters, could be well prepared.

The project is one example of a North Korea which is feeling pressure to open up to business with the outside world - albeit very slowly.

An invitation from Pyongyang

In 2007, when See studied at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, he participated in a group tour to North Korea. One lady told him that she wanted to be a businesswoman, which surprised him a lot, as he had never imagined that in such a reclusive country, "the need for business activities would be so great."

In 2009, after the North Korean government officially announced its failure on currency reform that created rampant inflation, a letter from the commerce department of North Korea opened a door for See to start his business adventure in North Korea.

"They said they hope we can offer some consultancy services on finance, and I replied, what kind of help do you want?" See said.

"Bring people to North Korea and teach us how to do business," the official replied.

From then on, See has been trying every means to navigate the system to "make things happen."

So far, the organization has dispatched over 30 volunteers, mostly businessmen and economic experts, from all across the world to North Korea, lecturing North Korean students on how to do business.

Despite the fact the invitation was sent by the government, "there is never a trip where everything goes smoothly," See said.

At the very beginning, a US teacher failed to teach in North Korea, due to "visa problems." Since then the NGO has rarely recruited US volunteers.

Money is another problem. The Choson Exchange has to afford all the expenses for volunteers. "Normally, western businessmen who are workshop leaders would have to pay their own expenses," Abrahamian, who studied video production in the US and became fascinated with North Korea while studying in Seoul, told the Global Times. Still they believe it is a good experience.

Each time, they have around 40 students, selected by the Pyongyang government. Previously, they were mostly civil servants and managers. Recently younger generations who want to start businesses have also participated.

"Young professionals, mainly 20 to 40 years old, see us as conduits to knowledge from the outside world which they can use to develop their economy," See, who is based in Singapore, told the Global Times via E-mail.

In recent years, North Korea has increased exchanges regarding personnel training, art and culture with certain countries.

Officials from North Korea have been organized and dispatched to study in Jilin and Liaoning in recent years. Each year, over 100 North Korean officials participate in a 20-day training workshop in China, according to the Oriental Morning Post.

There is also at least one other university with foreign teachers in North Korea. In recent years, the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology has been educating the offspring of elites, the BBC reported. Teachers from around the world teach a variety of subjects, including trade.

"North Korea's continuing exchanges with the outside world indicate that Pyongyang is willing to develop its economy by bringing in external resources and in some specific areas. With certain countries, North Korea is opening its door to a limited extent," Da Zhigang, professor of Northeast Asian studies at the Heilongjiang Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.

Despite the fact it remains difficult to carry out political reforms in North Korea, economic reforms might be an alternative, Da noted.

Gray market 

While North Korea is slowly beginning to develop its market, a gray market where people are engaged in all kinds of business activities is emerging, Abrahamian said.

"You can make money there. Officially everything is owned by the government, but the reality is, there is a gray market. People can start a company by saying the company is affiliated to a ministry, but in fact, you can run it by yourself," Abrahamian told the Global Times.

"That changes people's thinking about ways to improve their livelihoods and to earn money."

Abrahamian was impressed that most North Korean students are thirsty for "all kinds of information, from marketing strategies, logo design to inflation." Once, a middle-aged student asked him how to do business with Middle Eastern countries.

"The biggest change is increasing in business and market activities, so people are now seeing business as a way to improve their lives," Abrahamian said.

This explains why North Korean students heatedly discuss economic issues and questions when participating in the workshop.

Because North Korea remains an outlier when it comes to global economic systems, it remains difficult for North Koreans who lack business knowledge and skills to master the science.

"They have never heard about renting a house, because all the houses are allocated by the government," Abrahamian said.

Tina Kanagaratnam, a Shanghai-based British businesswoman who has been in the PR industry for 18 years told Global Times that she was shocked to find that her students had never heard about certain terms, such as "public relations" or "advertisements."

The thorniest problem is that there are always taboos.

"You have to raise sensitive topics in a smart way. We always have a lot of discussions on how to make sure questions are relatively safe," Abrahamian said.

In one workshop, group leaders fabricated two islands, one small and one big island, when referring to the economic relationships between China and North Korea.

Translators skip all the topics about South Korea to avoid sensitivity. When they discuss sanctions, they avoid mentioning the US sanctions on North Korea, Abrahamian noted.

Conflicts occasionally break out. Once, a teacher posed the question: "What do you think we think about your country?" After a long silence, a middle-aged North Korean man stood up abruptly and replied "We're living happily. Why do you criticize our country? We have very good systems. You have misunderstood us."

"There are always specific countries and topics that you have to avoid," Abrahamian said.

High hope for economic reforms

In 2002, the North Korean government conducted a series of reforms, including economic experiments on agriculture and reforms of wage systems. The pilot projects created inflation, but also paved the way for business opportunities.

"This created opportunities for the people to get engaged in business, and they were totally keen to use the market and do business," Abrahamian told the Global Times.

Some commentators expressed cautious hopes that North Korea would totally open up when Kim Jong-un took the reins from his father, but Abrahamian pointed out that this would have been at odds with the family legacy. "You could never expect a son to say no to what his father has done," he said.

Referring to the hierarchy of the country, Abrahamian admitted that they had no access to the top leaders of North Korea. But, said that for sure, the adventure has offered new means through which to understand the country.

He noticed that in the past four years, there has been a surge in the number of pioneering enterprises.

Abrahamian noticed one man, who despite having no professional training or business experience, opened a cafe. Several girls said they wanted to quit their jobs and do business.

"The country is changing, whether you see it or not. But it was not like Myanmar, which changed so fast. People don't see North Korea's changes," Abrahamian said.

Both See and Abrahamian expressed high hopes for a new Special Economic Zone (SEZ) policy, which "indicates greater opportunities for the people to experiment."

"As part of this policy, each province gets several SEZs, and this will allow them to experiment with new approaches to economic development suitable to their province's circumstances," See said.

Never relaxed

The teachers are allowed to use cell phones. They have 3G Internet, which locals are banned from using. "But we don't have the freedom of movement," Abrahamian said. They have to report to an official in the cultural exchange department if they plan to visit some places and wait for the driver to pick them up.

See and Abrahamian's careers in North Korea came courtesy of their interest in the Korean Peninsula. But even so, their lives in Pyongyang could not be described as "relaxed."

See said he felt stressed in the country "all the time." Abrahamian gets up early and exercises every day to try and combat the stress.

The glacial pace of policy changes in North Korea has also made it difficult to keep the project going, due to a lack of funds.

"Our challenge is that we do not have enough funding to plan far enough ahead, say three-five years," See said.

They have also considered sending more North Koreans to European countries for further study, but currently, it merely is a hope.

"Considering North Korea is changing really slowly, it is difficult to find people to back us," Abrahamian said.