• News
  • Sport
  • TV
  • Radio
  • Education
  • TV Licences
  • Contact Us
  • SOUTH AFRICA
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
  • SPORT
  • AFRICA
  • WORLD
  • FEATURES
  • OPINION
No Result
View All Result
1
Home Africa

Egyptian billionaire, Sawiris, sets sights on ventures in North Korea

12 February 2019, 12:19 PM  |
AFP AFP |  @SABCNews
Sawiris, whose telecoms business operates the Koryolink mobile phone network in North Korea in a joint venture, said the impoverished country needed investments across the board

Sawiris, whose telecoms business operates the Koryolink mobile phone network in North Korea in a joint venture, said the impoverished country needed investments across the board

Image: Reuters

Sawiris, whose telecoms business operates the Koryolink mobile phone network in North Korea in a joint venture, said the impoverished country needed investments across the board

Egyptian billionaire businessman, Naguib Sawiris, said on Tuesday he sees opportunities for mining, telecoms and hotels in North Korea if a summit between its leader Kim Jong Un and United States (US) President Donald Trump later in February is successful.

Trump said last week he would hold his second meeting with Kim in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, on 27 and 28 February after an unprecedented first meeting between the leaders in Singapore last June.

Sawiris, whose telecoms business operates the Koryolink mobile phone network in North Korea in a joint venture, said the impoverished country needed investments across the board from hotels to roads to modern methods of agriculture.

“It’s just a country full of opportunities if it opens up. I am looking forward in other areas such as mining,tourism, agriculture, agro-industries. But mining is amazing -they have so many resources and they don’t have the money to spend on exploration,” says Sawiris.

A State Department spokesman said last week that topics for the summit include complete denuclearization, transformation of US-North Korea relations and building a lasting peace mechanism on the Korean Peninsula.

“I am very upbeat on the (Trump) meeting because I think we might really achieve peace in that meeting. I think the North Koreans – all that they want – is recognition, respect, dialogue and they are getting it now,” says Sawiris.

He said mobile phone penetration in North Korea was around15% of the population or some three million people and market growth was limited because of expensive handsets that needed to be paid for in foreign currency.

Orascom Investment Holdings said in September it had been granted an exemption from the United Nations to operate Koryolink, its joint venture with North Korea’s Post and Telecommunication Company.

This came after the United Nations (UN) Security Council tightened sanctions making it illegal for foreign companies to form commercial joint ventures with North Korean entities.

Share article
Tags: United StatesEgyptNorth Korea
Previous Post

Mentor raises concerns over her confidential information

Next Post

Unification title fight to take place in April

Related Posts

DRC President, Felix Tshisekedi.

DRC govt urged to ensure democratic spaces are protected in run-up to December election

28 September 2023, 7:11 PM
A man holds his national flag as people gather to show their support to the Junta leader Ibrahim Traore and demand the departure of the French ambassador at the Place de la Nation in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso January 20, 2023.

Burkina Faso junta says it thwarted a coup attempt

28 September 2023, 11:33 AM
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin testifies before the House Armed Services Committee on the conclusion of military operations in Afghanistan at the Rayburn House Office building on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, U.S. September 29, 2021.

Africa’s success crucial to all futures: US Secretary of Defence

27 September 2023, 6:48 PM
Unions say they would begin the strike on October 3

Nigeria’s labour unions call indefinite strike over cost of living

27 September 2023, 9:40 AM
Actress Viola Davis at an event

Actress Viola Davis to join US African diaspora council

26 September 2023, 8:47 PM
A supporter of Ghana's presidential candidate Nana Akufo-Addo of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) holds a party flag as she reacts at party's headquaters in Accra, Ghana December 8, 2016.

Ghana’s former trade minister quits ruling party to run for president

26 September 2023, 10:31 AM
Next Post
Boxer Zolani Tete.

Unification title fight to take place in April

Most Viewed

  • 24hrs
  • Week
  • Month
  • Visitors planning to visit the Overberg region urged to postpone their trips
  • Six beaches in Durban flagged with high levels of E.coli
  • Western Cape on high alert following severe storm warning
  • Steam trains revived in the Western Cape amid Heritage Day celebrations
  • A level two weather warning issued for southern KZN
  • High waves and rough water conditions force beach closures in the Western Cape
  • Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi to rest in the town he built and nurtured
  • NSPCA files criminal case against Julius Malema for alleged animal cruelty
  • Snow, heavy rainfall expected in parts of KZN: SAWS
  • Cold-front sweeps across SA bringing snow and chilly temperatures
  • Western Cape extreme weather expected to shift to KZN
  • Pirates need 2 goal win to advance to CAF group stages
  • Western Cape EFF plans shutdown over impounded taxis
  • Avian Flu detected at five poultry farms in Limpopo
  • EFF threatens to render City of Tshwane ungovernable

LATEST

[File Image]: Graphic depiction of crime scene
  • South Africa

Murders in the last decade almost 200 000: Cele


Former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad.
  • Politics

‘Parliament will continue drawing from lessons imparted by Aziz Pahad’


A Green Sea turtle swims over a reef on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii, in this file photo taken March 20, 2013.
  • World

DNA remnants found in fossil of 6 million year old turtle


Labourers work at the site of an under construction flyover in Kolkata, India, February 1, 2022.
  • Business

Delegates hear that infrastructure deficit across BRICS countries is significant


DRC President, Felix Tshisekedi.
  • Africa

DRC govt urged to ensure democratic spaces are protected in run-up to December election


  • South Africa

LIVE | State of democracy in the SADC region lecture by Prof Ibbo Mandaza


Weather

  • About the SABC
  • Contact Us
  • Jobs
  • Advertise
  • Disclaimer
  • Site Map

SABC © 2023

No Result
View All Result
  • SOUTH AFRICA
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
  • SPORT
  • AFRICA
  • WORLD
  • FEATURES
  • OPINION

© 2023

Previous Former ANC MP Vytjie Mentor. Mentor raises concerns over her confidential information
Next Boxer Zolani Tete. Unification title fight to take place in April