Via The Financial Times, news that Orascom is looking at setting up a mobile phone venture in North Korea. As the article notes “…Setting up a mobile phone service in North Korea – an authoritarian state that has banned mobiles – may sound like a misguided venture but Egypt’s Orascom reckons it can defy conventional […]
Read more »Via Reuters, news that South Korea agreed on a $90 billion deal to import Siberian gas that should allow Russia to diversify away from Europe while bringing North Korea closer to its neighbour via pipeline diplomacy. As the article noted: “…South Korea’s Energy Ministry said in a statement the country wanted to import up to […]
Read more »As recently reported in The Japan Focus, Russia’s Far Eastern frontier is now turning into the place where energy export becomes a political tool in shaping the country’s relations with regional neighbors. China, the two Koreas, and Japan are hungry for energy, natural resources and, at the same time, seek economic and political cooperation. In […]
Read more »As recently reported by The Financial Times, the subprime-driven credit crisis is causing some people to look at frontier markets for unconventional, uncorrelated returns. As the article notes: “…Godvig Capital Management’s Babylon Fund, which aims to profit from the rehabilitation of Iraq, is one of a growing band of ‘frontier funds’ which seek returns in […]
Read more »As reported in Arabian Business, Orascom Telecom – the fourth-biggest Arab mobile phone operator by market value – announced that its subsidiary, CHEO Technology (in which the North Korean government also owns 25%), won the first mobile phone licence in North Korea. Orascom stated that it plans to invest $400 million on infrastructure and licence […]
Read more »As noted in Portfolio, North Korea is increasing its production of exportable goods in advance of what some feel will be a more relaxed trade environment in future months. Last year, North Korea sold $1.75 billion worth of products abroad, to such buyers as China and the European Union. As the article speculates, future North […]
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