Felix Abt: Difference between revisions

'''Felix Abt''' (born 15 January 1955, Switzerland) is a business affairs specialist on [[North Korea]] and [[Vietnam]].<ref>[http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-114340267.html "Despite Reforms, N.K. Replete with Animosity against Capitalism"], Yonhap News Agency, 17 March 2004.</ref>

Abt was one of the first foreign entrepreneurs<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/05/AR2006110500384.html "Western Firms doing business in N. Korea"], ''The Washington Post'', 5 November 2006.</ref><ref>[http://www.interview-blog.de/unternehmerinnen-und-geschaftsideen/an-amazing-business-pioneer-in-north-korea-is-telling-us-the-real-reasons-behind-the-sudden-and-surprising-pull-out-of-a-global-engineering-giant-from-this-country "An Amazing Business Pioneer in North Korea is telling us the real reasons behind the sudden and surprising pull-out of a global engineering giant from this country"], interview-blog.de, 10 September 2008.</ref> to seek to do business in contemporary [[North Korea]], where he lived between 2002–09, and developing and operating businesses.

He co-founded and directed the Pyongyang Business School, where he was involved in [[capacity building]]<ref>[http://www.swiss-cooperation.admin.ch/northkorea/en/Home/Programme/Capacity_Development/Pyongyang_International_Business_School Swiss governmental Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Pyongyang Business School], swiss-cooperation.admin.ch; accessed 21 September 2014.</ref> related to business administration for senior executives of North Korean government agencies and enterprises. Abt has been featured and interviewed by numerous media, including ''[[CNN]]'', ''[[FOX News]]'',<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,227607,00.html "Some Western Companies initiating investment in North Korea"], foxnews.com, 5 November 2006.</ref> [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation|ABC]],<ref>[http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/content/2007/s2070211.htm "North Korea Tour"], Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 16 June 2007.</ref> [[BBC]],<ref>[https://docs.google.com/gview?a=v&q=cache:GRNLsG1176kJ:download.bbcmotiongallery.com/compilations/NorthKoreaCompLog.pdf+felix+abt&hl=en&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgzzTXkDjr29939XVyMmA5PnVik4HpjUxwdB5rT6NLNrk9-TYmwUR7RK9S9y1H9Jsn-OV0LjJ5ysVfTmlLdPnWBdm7htDVDH3-DPI5S9MeeoKvV8J-oOOdF6ekXJW8GrWr7pjSQ&sig=AFQjCNEqSNaIU7Xg07h3dq52W9Y9bUlvjw "Things have improved for business people"], BBC interview with Felix Abt, Pyongyang, 10 October 2005.</ref>'' [[Le Monde]]'',<ref>[http://premiereurgence.typepad.com/actualites/2007/07/core-du-nord-la.html Corée du Nord: La pharmacopée traditionnelle au secours d'un système de santé dégradé], ''Le Monde'', Paris, 2 July 2007.</ref> [[Handelsblatt]],<ref>[https://www.handelsblatt.com/unternehmen/mittelstand_aktuell/der-weg-zum-geldverdienen-ist-in-nordkorea-weit;1046776 "Geschäfte machen in Pjöngjang: Der Weg zum Geldverdienen ist in Nordkorea weit"], ''Handelsblatt'', Germany, 9 March 2006.</ref> ''[[Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung]]'',<ref>[http://www.abisz.genios.de/r_sppresse/daten/presse_faz/20070516/faz.FD2200705161109653.html "Ein Schweizer Geschäftsmann in Pjöngjang. Felix Abt stellt Aspirin für Nordkorea her und kämpft mit den Auswirkungen der Sanktionen"], ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'', 15 May 2007.</ref> [[Agence France Presse|AFP]],<ref>[http://premiereurgence.typepad.com/actualites/2007/05/reportage_de_la.html «Dans les hôpitaux aussi, les Nord-Coréens manquent de presque tout»], Reportage de l'AFP, 7 May 2007.</ref> ''[[Businessweek]]'',<ref>[http://www.nkeconwatch.com/2006/11/05/north-koreas-profession-entrepreneur "North Korea's Profession: Entrepreneur"], nkeconwatch.com, 11 May 2006.</ref> ''[[The Financial Times]]''<ref>[http://courses.wcupa.edu/rbove/eco343/050Compecon/Korea/050901NoReward.txt "North Korea toys with risk and reward"], ''The Financial Times'', 1 September 2005.</ref> and [[Bloomberg.com]],<ref>[https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=ahL3bp0OZp7Y&refer=home "North Korean Propaganda Festival May Signal Shift in Policy"], Bloomberg.com, 10 May 2007.</ref><ref>[https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&sid=a.IhQm.XBmoU&refer=japan "North Korea Wants End to Sanctions Before It Makes Nuclear Deal"], Bloomberg.com, 27 July 2007.</ref><ref>[https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=ak6H00Wu7m0M&refer=asia “U.S. Treasury's Levey Says Bankers Worldwide Are Shunning Iran” (and North Korea)], Bloomberg.com, 15 November 2007.</ref><ref>[https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aI93JpNiGpOg "North Korea's Kim Allows Tentative Stirrings of Profit Motive"], Bloomberg.com, 27 December 2005.</ref> and has been giving advice to business associations.<ref>[http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-112916801.html "Swiss Bizman Names Five Promising Business Areas for North Korea"], Yonhap, 4 February 2004.</ref><ref>[http://www.oav.de/uploads/tx_ttnews/iap_3_2009_auszug.pdf "North Korea - doing business in a demanding environment"], ''Magazine Insight Asia Pacific'', German Asian-Pacific Business Association, Hamburg, September 2009.</ref>

Before he rejoined the [[ABB Group]] in 2002 and moved to North Korea, Felix Abt had been working from 1990 for companies in countries and regions such as Vietnam, the Middle East and Africa.<ref>[http://www.mitegro.de/mitegro/3/Hersteller/abb/abb_upd_2102.pdf ABB Management Information, Appointments], ABB update 20/2002, page 5.</ref><ref>[http://felixabt.com/business%20asia.html Felix Abt website: "About us"], felixabt.com; accessed 21 September 2014.</ref><ref>[http://www.plaxo.com/directory/profile/206158935915/1feab7d5/Felix/Abt%29%C2%A0 Felix Abt profile], plaxo.com; accessed 21 September 2014.</ref>

In 2002, Abt was appointed resident Group Representative in North Korea by the Swiss-Swedish ABB Group, an [[electrical power]] and [[automation]] [[technologies]] company.<ref name=Chad/> On 19 May 2003, he signed a [[memorandum of understanding]] on the [[implementation]] of a large high-tension [[power grid]] project by ABB with North Korea's Ministry of Power and Coal Industries, in presence of the Swiss foreign minister, the Swedish ambassador to the DPRK, and the Minister of Power and Coal Industries, "in an effort to solve North Korea's serious problems in the power sector, highlighted by its worn-out generation and transmission facilities".<ref>[http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-107858810.html NORTH KOREA THIS WEEK NO. 243: Topic of the Week], Yonhap News Agency, 22 May 2003.</ref><ref>[http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2003/200305/news05/20.htm "MOU signed between DPRK and Switzerland"], Korea Central News Agency (KCNA), Pyongyang, 19 May 2003.</ref><ref>[http://www1.korea-np.co.jp/pk/192nd_issue/2003053102.htm "DPRK SIGNS POWER GRID DEAL WITH ABB: Swiss Foreign Minister Visits Pyongyang"], The People's Korea, Pyongyang, 19 May 2003.</ref>

In late 2003, Abt became an [[Agent (law)|agent]] of several [[multinational corporations]] in business fields such as infrastructure (ABB), mining ([[Sandvik]]) and texiles ([[Dystar]]) on whose behalf he realized multi-million USD sales.<ref>[http://www.asiabizblog.com/archives/2008/09/making_money_in.htm "Making Money in Pyongyang - This is No Hallucination"], Asiabizblog.com, 10 September 2008.</ref>

Abt also acted from October 2005 to February 2009 as [[managing director]] of the [[Pyongsu Joint Venture Company]], the first foreign-invested joint venture in the pharmaceutical field.<ref>[http://chrisgelken.blogspot.com/2007/03/drug-company-urges-aid-donors-to-buy.html Drug company urges aid donors to buy “local”], ''The Korea Herald'', Seoul, 30 March 2007.</ref><ref>{{YouTube|owCIiwZXY2w|"PyongSu Pharma J.V. Co. Pyongyang, and what it stands for. Introduction to humanitarian organisations"}}</ref> During this period it became the first North Korean pharmaceutical factory to reach international quality standard (called [[Good Manufacturing Practice]] or GMP) certified by the [[World Health Organisation]] and the first North Korean company to win contracts against international competitors. It also set up its own pharmacy chain in the country.

Abt was the founding president of the [[European Business Association]] (EBA) in Pyongyang,<ref>{{YouTube|zM1e7fpWdYI|European Business Association (EBA), Pyongyang, Founding Ceremony}}</ref><ref>[http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-163035094.html "European firms in N. Korea running business association: chairman"], Yonhap News Agency, 6 May 2007.</ref><ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1532990/Driving-the-streets-of-post-Stalinist-Pyongyang-is-just-like-time-travel.html "Driving the streets of post-Stalinist Pyongyang is just like time travel"], The Daily Telegraph, London, 11 November 2006.</ref><ref>[http://www.eba-pyongyang.org EBA Pyongyang homepage], eba-pyongyang.org; accessed 21 September 2014.</ref> set up on 28 April 2005, a de facto European [[Chamber of Commerce]].<ref>[http://eaca.asia/site/etc/press_review.htm?mode=view&num=644&page=30&pPart=&pKeyword=&pGroup= "Pyongyang business group celebrates first anniversary"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100120040317/http://eaca.asia/site/etc/press_review.htm?mode=view&num=644&page=30&pPart=&pKeyword=&pGroup= |date=January 20, 2010 }}, ''The Korea Herald'', 28 April 2006.</ref> Among other things it has organised the participation of European companies at [[trade fairs]]<ref>[http://theseoultimes.com/ST/?url=/ST/db/read.php?idx=5726 "Strong Showing of EU Companies at 3rd Pyongyang Autumn Int'l Trade Fair"], ''The Seoul Times'', 10 October 2007.</ref><ref>[http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-169956260.html MANY EUROPEAN COMPANIES ATTEND AUTUMN TRADE FAIR IN PYONGYANG: REPORT], AsiaPulse News (Yonhap), 18 October 2007.</ref> in North Korea and has been hosting visiting delegations such as members from the [[European Union]] parliament and [[European Union|EU]] ambassadors to the DPRK.<ref>[http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-136628417.html "European business delegates to visit Pyongyang in October"], Yonhap News Agency, 25 September 2005.</ref> As EBA's president, Abt strongly lobbied against [[economic sanctions]] by Western powers hurting legitimate foreign business activities in North Korea.<ref>[http://chrisgelken.spaces.live.com "Businessmen accuse U.S. of indiscriminate sanctions"], ''The Korea Herald'', Seoul, 18 September 2006.</ref><ref>[http://chrisgelken.spaces.live.com/?_c11_BlogPart_pagedir=Next&_c11_BlogPart_handle=cns!2ED692167BC7EF1F!229&_c11_BlogPart_BlogPart=blogview&_c=BlogPart "Optimism alive despite political tensions. European business group in Pyongyang sees N.K. as an attrative FDI destination"], ''The Korea Herald'', Seoul, 26 June 2006.</ref>

Concurrently, Abt established the Pyongyang Business School.<ref name=Chad>{{cite news|url=https://www.nknews.org/2013/01/meet-the-man-who-lived-and-worked-in-north-korea-for-seven-years/|title=Meet The Man Who Lived And Worked In North Korea For Seven Years|first=Chad|last=O'Carroll|publisher=NK News|date=16 January 2013}}</ref> The school has been organising regular cycles of [[postgraduate]] seminars<ref>{{YouTube|udmFkETfyW4|Pyongyang Business School}} Slide Show, 28 July 2009.</ref> on [[strategic management]] and [[business administration]] for senior [[executive officer]]s of North Korean ministries and enterprises from 2004.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110430051947/http://us.ft.com/ftgateway/superpage.ft?news_id=fto081820051525136708&page=2 "Graduates prove North Korea is now open for business"], ''The Financial Times'', 18 August 2005.</ref>

Together with Volker Eloesser,{{Who|date=September 2014}} Abt was a co-founder/investor of the first foreign-invested software [[joint venture]]<ref>[http://www.oav.de/uploads/tx_ttnews/iap_3_2009_auszug.pdf "North Korea - doing business in a demanding environment"], Magazine Insight Asia Pacific, German Asian-Pacific Business Association, Hamburg, September 2009.</ref> by the name of [[Nosotek]], established in 2007.<ref>[http://www.nkeconwatch.com/2009/07/29/european-business-assoication-eba-founding/#comments "August 2nd, 2009 at 10:13 am (...) He is also Vice Chairman of the board of directors of [[Nosotek]], a co-founder, and a shareholder"], nkeconwatch.com, 29 July 2009.</ref><ref>[http://www.interview-blog.de/unternehmerinnen-und-geschaftsideen/nosotek-is-the-first-european-invested-software-development-research-co-mpany-in-the-dprk-with-the-head-office-in-pyongyang-interview-with-mr-ju-jong-chol-vice-president-of-nosotek “Nosotek is the first European-invested software development & research company in the DPRK, with the head office in Pyongyang.”], Interview with Mr. Ju Jong Chol (Vice President of [[Nosotek]]), Interview Blog, Germany, 15 April 2008</ref><ref>{{YouTube|_AZnlyKXGPM|Nosotek IT JV, Pyongyang, North Korea - the first Western IT venture!}} video; accessed 21 September 2014.</ref>

Abt set up an [[online art gallery]] introducing North Korean [[painters]] and promoting North Korean [[fine art]] in 2008.<ref>[http://www.pyongyang-painters.com Pyongyang-painters.com introducing renowned painters as well as new talents from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea)] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160118054357/http://www.pyongyang-painters.com |date=January 18, 2016 }}, pyongyang-painters.com; accessed 21 September 2014.</ref><ref>[http://www.nkeconwatch.com/2009/06/19/north-korean-art-makes-a-show-in-vietnam North Korean art makes a show in Vietnam"], nkeconwatch.com, 19 June 2009.</ref><ref>[http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/Home/travel/arts/4924 "First ever North Korean painting exhibition in Nha Trang"], ''The Saigon Times'', 10 June 2009.</ref>

==Controversy==

Because of his investment strategies in North Korea, Abt has been called a "controversial figure" and a member of a "secretive group of Western investors" in North Korea. He has been called a "bottom fisherman" and "Switzerland's greatest embarrassment to humanity since [Third Reich financier] [[François Genoud]]."<ref name=vice>{{cite web |url=https://news.vice.com/article/argument-for-investing-in-north-korea-felix-abt |title=Why a Secretive Group of Western Investors Are Bullish on Business in North Korea |work=[[Vice News]] |author=Justin Rohrlich |date=March 29, 2016 |accessdate=March 18, 2017}}</ref>

These North Korean investors, including Abt, use a strategy called "China Plus One" where a company "can still claim that the products were 'Made in China," says Abt, if less than 50 percent of the product is made in North Korea.<ref name=vice/> For example the highest-paid factory workers in North Korea earn $75/month compared to the lowest paid in China at $270/month. The product can still be labeled "Made in China", and thus exportable to countries around the world when using the "China Plus One" strategy.<ref name=vice/> This strategy has been criticized for exploiting laborers in North Korea who experience human rights violations.<ref name=vice/>