North Korea builds New Kaesong Industrial Park with Foreign Consortium

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North Korea builds New Kaesong Industrial Park with Foreign Consortium

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Pyongyang and a Consortium of Foreign Firms have closed a Deal on building the New Keasong Industrial Park and a Highway to Pyongyang Airport. An International Forum in Pyongyang discussed the Establishment of Special Economic Zones throughout the Country.

nsnbc , – The North Korean (DPRK) news agency KCNA reported on 17 October, that Pyongyang and a consortium of foreign firms have reached an agreement on building a high-tech development park in Kaesong, not far from the joint North and South Korean Kaesong Industrial Zone, as well as a Highway Toll-Road between Kaesong and Pyongyang International Airport. 

Kaesong Photo Google Maps

The consortium consists of several renown East Asian and Middle Eastern firms, including Singapore´s Jurong Consultants and OKP Holdings and the Hong Kong based P&T Architects & Engineers Ltd.

The DPRK´s head of state, Kim Jong Un, has during his 2013 new years speech announced that Pyongyang was about to begin the process of turning the DPRK into a regional economic powerhouse.

Investments have however, been hampered by continuous U.S- led, destabilizing political and military provocations, especially during this year’s annual military exercise where the USA launched a simulated nuclear attack on the DPRK with B-2 Stealth Bombers, leading to renewed tensions and the closure of the Kaesong Industrial Zone in April. The Industrial Park has since been reopened.

The Pyongyang government, which has consulted with international experts about the transformation of the DPRK´s economy based on the Vietnamese blueprint for several years, has since vested an intensive effort to convince foreign investors, that Pyongyang´s policy of a strong military deterrent, including nuclear arms, combined with its continuous diplomacy towards substituting the armistice agreement with a lasting peace accord, is the best guarantee of peace on the peninsula. Pyongyang also stresses that the country´s science based economy and stable working environment guarantees a more stable and predictable economic environment than economies in speculation driven countries.

So far, no specific date has been given for the beginning of the construction of the new high-tech industrial park, but Pyongyang indicates that the implementation of the project may begin soon. KCNA reported that the consortium had agreed to enter a joint venture and that they soon will enter the implementation phase of the project.

The North Korean newspaper Rodong Sinmun reported moreover, that the DPRK had wrapped-up a two-day international forum in Pyongyang. On the agenda of the forum, with participation of experts from, among others, the USA, China, Canada and India, was the development of special economic zones throughout the country.

Even though bilateral relations between the North and the South of the divided nation have soured considerably under the present South Korean president, Park Geun-hye, the prospect of the development of the special economic zones is likely to inspire South Korea to consider showing greater interest and initiative in investing in the northern brother nation. Professor Yang Moo-Jin of the Institute of North Korean Studies, University of Seoul, said that Pyongyang was looking to pressure South Korea into making greater high-tech investments in the North.

Ch/L -nsnbc

Related article:

Korea Crisis and Sanctions Designed to Sabotage Transformation of DPRK Economy in 2013

http://nsnbc.me/2013/10/18/north-korea-builds-new-kaesong-industrial-park-with-foreign-consortium/

N. Korea agrees new Kaesong venture with foreign firms: KCNA

October 19, 2013, 5:13 am

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AFP N. Korea agrees new Kaesong venture with foreign firms: KCNA

Seoul (AFP) - North Korea has agreed with an international consortium to develop a new high-tech district in Kaesong, close to the newly-reopened industrial zone it operates with the South, state media said Friday.

The jointly-run Kaesong industrial zone was shut in April amid high cross-border tensions. Seoul and Pyongyang agreed last month to reopen the park, but relations have since soured again.

The North's announcement of a new international deal came after South Korea said Monday it had postponed a planned investment road show aimed at drumming up foreign interest in Kaesong.

Seoul said the move reflected a recent downturn in relations and slow progress at talks aimed at resuming full operations at the complex.

Pyongyang's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the North had reached an agreement on building a "high-tech development district" in Kaesong with a consortium of East Asian and Middle Eastern companies including Singapore's Jurong Consultants and OKP Holdings, and Hong Kong's P&T Architects & Engineers Ltd.

"They will soon enter the implementation phase of the project", it said, adding that the consortium also agreed to enter a joint venture with the North to build a highway linking Pyongyang's airport to the city.

South Korea's Unification Ministry spokesman said it had no official comment, but stressed the project had "nothing to do with the existing Kaesong zone".

The firms named by KCNA were also tight-lipped about their participation.

OKP Holdings said its involvement was "in the preliminary stages", while Jurong and P&T both declined to comment.

The North's official newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, said the isolated communist state Thursday wrapped up a two-day international forum in Pyongyang -- with experts from the United States, China, Canada, India and elsewhere -- on developing special economic zones nationwide.

Professor Yang Moo-Jin of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul said Pyongyang was looking to pressure South Korea into making greater high-tech investments in the North.

North Korea effectively shut down Kaesong, which lies 10 kilometres (six miles) on its side of the border, when it withdrew its 53,000 workers from the complex in April.

As military tensions eased, Seoul and Pyongyang agreed last month to reopen the industrial park, but relations have since soured again, with the North railing against what it sees as the South's "hostility".

South Korea has been pressing for foreign investment in Kaesong, believing the presence of overseas firms would make it harder for Pyongyang to shut down the complex in the future.

But many experts question who would be attracted by a project run by two countries that are still technically at war.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/19459815/n-korea-agrees-new-kaesong-venture-with-foreign-firms-kcna/