North Korea's massive plan to become the 'next Singapore' revealed
(Baonghean.vn) - According to a senior North Korean economist, the country is studying a giant plan to become a regional transportation hub, partly inspired by the success of countries like Singapore and Switzerland.
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| Mr. Ri Ki-song, senior researcher at the Institute of Economics of the Korean Academy of Social Sciences. Photo: Getty |
Pyongyang has also left open the possibility of joining global financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) if current member countries abandon their hostile policies toward the Northeast Asian nation.
Ri Ki-song, a senior researcher at the Institute of Economics of the North Korean Academy of Social Sciences, said that although sanctions aimed at forcing his country to abandon its nuclear and missile programs have been increasing over the past year, the North Korean economy has maintained steady growth.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased from $25 billion in 2013 to $29.5 billion in 2016, and $30 billion in 2017. This growth reflects the fact that sanctions have made some sectors of the economy more efficient and self-reliant.
The economist also expressed optimism about the current calm on the Korean Peninsula, and the summits between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un this year with Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump.
Mr. Ri said that if sanctions were lifted and the political climate improved enough, North Korea could compete with countries like Switzerland and Singapore, which "have limited resources and territories, but make good use of their geographical location to gain maximum advantage."
"Our country is located in the center of East Asia, the Korean Peninsula has a very favorable geographical position. In the future, we will try to cooperate with neighboring countries to develop the transportation industry. If we use the railway from Korea to Siberia, many countries will prefer to use this route rather than shipping by sea," the economist said.
Referring to the possibility of joining international financial institutions, Mr. Ri said: "Due to sanctions and hostile moves by countries such as the United States and Japan, our efforts to join international organizations have not come true so far," noting that Pyongyang was unable to join the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in the 1990s.
This expert affirmed: "If we cannot join a regional organization, joining an international organization will be even more difficult"./.
