North Korea is hardly visible from outer space due chronic power shortages, its population regularly encounters food shortages and international sanctions are designed to stop the sale of “luxury goods.”
Considering all of these factors, some might find the diverse range of goods on offer at the 18th Pyongyang Spring International Trade Fair difficult to understand.
Everything from solar panels to kitchen fittings to herbal remedies and tablet computers were on display at this May’s event, reflecting the increasingly diverse needs of the local population.
A variety of products were on display at the trade fair
Goods such as flat-screen displays, large air conditioning units and even water cooler towers were on offer for local companies eager to upgrade their offices. And modern trucks, buses, heavy agricultural equipment and factory components were displayed for those with industrial interests.
Bringing together more than 300 companies interested in selling consumer goods to an increasingly affluent middle class or learning more about cooperation possibilities with local firms, the fair’s only clue of North Korea’s status as an international pariah was the lack of diversity amongst its foreign participants.
North Korean tech
CHINESE DOMINANCE
While touted by state media as an “international economic event for boosting the economic and trade relations among different countries of the world,” only 17 countries were listed as taking part in this year’s fair. And Dieter Schmitt, a French and German business consultant who has lived two years in Pyongyang in the 1990s and who has since then organized business missions to North Korea, said the vast majority of participants came from China.
Perhaps reflecting the current health of Pyongyang’s relationship with Beijing, North Korean state media downplayed Chinese participation in the fair, listing China in ninth position on the list of 17 countries present at the fair, oddly enough.
The fair had a “family atmosphere”
The reality, however, was completely different, with “nothing visible” to suggest cooling relations between the two countries.
“I guess at least 70 percent of this year’s participants were Chinese,” said Schmitt. “What is very visible is that (the North Koreans) are basically so dependent on China.”
Chinese companies were present in three forms at the fair, Schmitt said. Wholly Chinese-owned companies, many of which were from Dandong, Shenyang or other border areas, were present selling the widest range of products to local customers and trade partners.
These included a number of “white products, solar panels and very big diesel generators, because of the power situation.”
There were many stalls advertising herbal medicines
Chinese-North Korean joint ventures, where the “Chinese partner provides the technology (that) is assembled somewhere in the DPRK with a DPRK brand,” represented another form of Chinese presence. “Generally these had products that, compared to the rest, were more sophisticated: Electronics, flat screens, cars and trucks.”
And companies falling under Chinese jurisdiction from Taiwan or Hong Kong “going the extra mile just to be perceived differently from China” constituted the third form of Chinese participation at the fair, Schmitt said.
“The Chinese companies have inroads into the country because they’re the big brother,” he said. As a result, “the place is increasingly looking like China,” due to the proliferation of Chinese brand, vehicles and light industrial products already in use throughout Pyongyang.
The fair was quite well-attended
WESTERN PRESENCE DWINDLES
With the reputational risk of doing business with the DPRK increasing in recent years, especially following UN condemnation of Pyongyang’s human rights record and repeated ballistic missile and nuclear tests, European interest in doing business in the DPRK has waned.
While European businesses were never a major presence in North Korea, Schmitt noticed only a handful of booths run by Western countries this time.
The majority of the foreign booths were from China
“Two German companies were present, one trading company selling Nivea cream manufactured by Beiersdorf,” he said. Another was a small trading company hosted at the European Business Association booth mainly distributing Haribo-style gummy bear candies.
In addition, one Italian logistics company with a long-term presence in North Korea – Organizzazione Trasporti Internazionali e Marittimi (OTIM) – took part.
“But they had a strange booth with only pictures : just a succession of Italian and DPRK flags, photos and no one manning the booth inside.”
Russia, despite news of warming ties between Moscow and Pyongyang, had little presence at the fair beyond a “stand of Vladivostok’s Primorsky region.”
North Korean-made rugs
HERBAL MEDICINE HEAVEN
Among the Chinese and North Korean companies present at the fair, one particular product type stood out to Schmitt as notable for both its popularity and prominence.
“One of the product types that was very present at many stands was health foods – ginseng and products like that. Food supplements, too,” Schmitt said.
More North Korean health products
“I was struck by that actually. A lot of small trading companies just selling health food or herbal medicine, a lot of herbal products.”
Pictures presented by Schmitt show at least 30 different North Korean companies alone specializing in health supplements, pharmaceuticals and even tobacco-cessation drugs.
And this category of products was popular among local customers, Schmitt’s photographs illustrate, particularly the Pyongsu Pharmaceutical booth, a JV company that locally produces western medicines for customers in North Korea.
Numerous North Korean tablet computers made an appearance at the fair
B2B OR NOT TO BE?
Despite a clear business-to-business purpose to many of the booths, Schmitt said it was notable how much of a consumer focus the fair was developing, compared to the early days.
“It’s big, it’s packed, it’s lively,” he said.
“It has a market-type atmosphere … a family event, a place for you to go with friends where you can buy new products.”
Furniture was also available
No longer is it just for foreigners or companies seeking business-to-business opportunities, he said, and some even bring their children.
“I have the feeling that it’s a popular event for the people in Pyongyang.”
That was also illustrated by the sometimes disorganized nature of some stands, with staff representing the companies in some cases knowing little about the brand they were representing and selling completely unrelated goods from the same table.
More North Korean technology booths
Yet tickets were required, and security relatively strict for the multi-building event. And there was consistency with reports about the increasing role of women in North Korea
“It was mainly the women doing most of the haggling, transactions and buying,” Schmitt said. “They are more involved in trading and things like that, and frankly speaking, the most heated discussions at the stands, the bargaining and haggling, was mainly involving women.
“This actually sort of outlines the increasing economic role of women in DPRK.”
There were also many booths for health supplements
Overall, Schmitt said the fair indicated progress – even if limited to certain sectors – compared to his days living in North Korea during the early 1990s.
“At least I think that now there is an emerging middle class in Pyongyang. And beside the fair, it was interesting to see all those bars, restaurants and shopping centres that really are on par with what you can see in South Korea or elsewhere in Asia.
“It’s quite a big jump from the erstwhile Daesong and Rakwon Department Stores of yesterday” he said, referring to the main stores previously available for foreigners to buy imported goods in Pyongyang.
All photos by Dieter Schmitt
Join the influential community of members who rely on NK News original news and in-depth reporting.
Subscribe to read the remaining 1233 words of this article.
EXISTING MEMBER?
