Felix Abt

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.[http://www.mitegro.de/mitegro/3/Hersteller/abb/abb_upd_2102.pdf ABB Management Information, Appointments] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719062423/http://www.mitegro.de/mitegro/3/Hersteller/abb/abb_upd_2102.pdf |date=19 July 2011 }}, ABB update 20/2002, page 5.[http://felixabt.com/business%20asia.html Felix Abt website: "About us"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091124004518/http://www.felixabt.com/business%20asia.html |date=24 November 2009 }}, felixabt.com; accessed 21 September 2014.[https://archive.today/20130131083958/http://www.plaxo.com/directory/profile/206158935915/1feab7d5/Felix/Abt)%C2%A0 Felix Abt profile], plaxo.com; accessed 21 September 2014.

In 2002, Abt was appointed resident Group Representative in North Korea by the Swiss-Swedish ABB Group, an electrical power and automation technologies company. 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".[http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-107858810.html NORTH KOREA THIS WEEK NO. 243: Topic of the Week]{{dead link|date=February 2019|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}, Yonhap News Agency, 22 May 2003.[http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2003/200305/news05/20.htm "MOU signed between DPRK and Switzerland"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100113150956/http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2003/200305/news05/20.htm |date=13 January 2010 }}, Korea Central News Agency (KCNA), Pyongyang, 19 May 2003.[http://www1.korea-np.co.jp/pk/192nd_issue/2003053102.htm "DPRK SIGNS POWER GRID DEAL WITH ABB: Swiss Foreign Minister Visits Pyongyang"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927213140/http://www1.korea-np.co.jp/pk/192nd_issue/2003053102.htm |date=27 September 2011 }}, The People's Korea, Pyongyang, 19 May 2003.

In late 2003, Abt became an agent of several multinational corporations in business fields such as infrastructure (ABB), mining (Sandvik) and textiles (Dystar) on whose behalf he realized multi-million USD sales.[http://www.asiabizblog.com/archives/2008/09/making_money_in.htm "Making Money in Pyongyang - This is No Hallucination"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100105224342/http://www.asiabizblog.com/archives/2008/09/making_money_in.htm |date=5 January 2010 }}, Asiabizblog.com, 10 September 2008.

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.[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.{{YouTube|owCIiwZXY2w|"PyongSu Pharma J.V. Co. Pyongyang, and what it stands for. Introduction to humanitarian organisations"}} 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 Organization 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,{{YouTube|zM1e7fpWdYI|European Business Association (EBA), Pyongyang, Founding Ceremony}}[http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-163035094.html "European firms in N. Korea running business association: chairman"]{{dead link|date=February 2019|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}, Yonhap News Agency, 6 May 2007.[https://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.[http://www.eba-pyongyang.org EBA Pyongyang homepage] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100130061942/http://www.eba-pyongyang.org/ |date=30 January 2010 }}, eba-pyongyang.org; accessed 21 September 2014. set up on 28 April 2005, a de facto European Chamber of Commerce.[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=20 January 2010 }}, The Korea Herald, 28 April 2006. Among other things, the EBA has organized the participation of European companies at trade fairs[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.[http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-169956260.html MANY EUROPEAN COMPANIES ATTEND AUTUMN TRADE FAIR IN PYONGYANG: REPORT]{{dead link|date=February 2019|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}, AsiaPulse News (Yonhap), 18 October 2007. in North Korea and has been hosting visiting delegations such as members from the European Union parliament and EU ambassadors to the DPRK.[http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-136628417.html "European business delegates to visit Pyongyang in October"]{{dead link|date=February 2019|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}, Yonhap News Agency, 25 September 2005. As EBA's president, Abt strongly lobbied against economic sanctions by Western powers hurting legitimate foreign business activities in North Korea.[http://chrisgelken.spaces.live.com "Businessmen accuse U.S. of indiscriminate sanctions"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070207030236/http://chrisgelken.spaces.live.com/ |date=7 February 2007 }}, The Korea Herald, Seoul, 18 September 2006.[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 attractive FDI destination"]{{Dead link|date=November 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, The Korea Herald, Seoul, 26 June 2006.

Concurrently, Abt established the Pyongyang Business School.{{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}} The school has organized regular cycles of postgraduate seminars{{YouTube|udmFkETfyW4|Pyongyang Business School}} Slide Show, 28 July 2009. on strategic management and business administration for senior executive officers of North Korean ministries and enterprises from 2004.[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.

Together with Volker Eloesser,{{Who|date=September 2014}} Abt was a co-founder/investor of the first foreign-invested software joint venture[https://web.archive.org/web/20110719070055/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. by the name of Nosotek, established in 2007.[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.[https://archive.today/20140921145122/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{{YouTube|_AZnlyKXGPM|Nosotek IT JV, Pyongyang, North Korea - the first Western IT venture!}} video; accessed 21 September 2014.

Abt set up an online art gallery introducing North Korean painters and promoting North Korean fine art in 2008.{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20160118054357/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)]}}, pyongyang-painters.com; accessed 21 September 2014.[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.[http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/Home/travel/arts/4924 "First ever North Korean painting exhibition in Nha Trang"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090618083210/http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/Home/travel/arts/4924/ |date=18 June 2009 }}, The Saigon Times, 10 June 2009.

In 2009 Abt left Pyongyang for Vietnam, but is still involved in North Korean issues. In 2014, he published a book about his experiences, A Capitalist in North Korea.{{Cite book|author=Abt, Felix|title=A Capitalist in North Korea: My Seven Years in the Hermit Kingdom|publisher=Tuttle Publishing|year=2014|isbn=9780804844390}}

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.{{cite web |url=https://www.vice.com/en/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=29 March 2016 |access-date=18 March 2017}} The 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. 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. This strategy has been criticized for exploiting laborers in North Korea who experience human rights violations.

Steven Borowiec, who covers the Korea's for the Los Angeles Times, reported that "Abt deflects questions of human rights by claiming that he is neither a human rights expert nor a politician. That may be true, but Abt must be aware that one need not be either of those things to spot something that is morally objectionable."{{cite web |last=Borowiec |first=Steven |title=The myth of "non-political" contact with North Korea |work=Asia Society |date= |access-date=2024-11-09 |url=https://asiasociety.org/korea/myth-%E2%80%9Cnon-political%E2%80%9D-contact-north-korea }}

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Category:1955 births

Category:Economy of North Korea

Category:Living people

Category:Swiss businesspeople

Category:Swiss expatriates in North Korea

Category:Swiss expatriates in Vietnam

Category:Place of birth missing (living people)