North Korea has issued an order requiring all private businesses operating in state-rented building space to be incorporated into the national commercial network by the end of the year. This appears to be a sweeping move to bring privately operated businesses into the state system as authorities fear virtual “privatization.”
According to a Daily NK source in South Hamgyong province recently, the commercial departments of city and county governments nationwide received a ruling party order late last month demanding that they survey all privately operated facilities in spaces rented in auxiliary buildings attached to factories and enterprises and incorporate them into the official commercial network.
The order even included an explicit deadline — everything must be completed by the end of the year.
As for the reason for the order, the source said, “With the rapid expansion of privately operated commercial facilities in rented auxiliary buildings of [state-owned] factories and enterprises over the last couple of years, the state judged that this accelerated the marketization of the economy and weakened state control over commercial facilities.”
This means the North Korean authorities have begun pulling privately operated businesses into the formal state commercial network to tighten up the state’s commercial management system and reap the profits generated by those businesses for the state’s coffers.
Operators fear losing equipment and profit margins under state management
Individuals who operated unofficial, privately run commercial facilities are unhappy about the order.
One person who made and sold “artificial meat” from soybeans in a rented factory building in Hamhung complained that the state “always steals your business once it grows a bit” and that the authorities aimed to “suppress the artificial meat distribution market.”
These private business operators paid 15 to 30% of their monthly sales to the factories and enterprises as rent and operated on the rest. However, if their businesses are incorporated into the state’s formal commercial network, the profit structure will likely reverse, destroying the foundation of their businesses.
Another person who operates a restaurant in a rented auxiliary building attached to a factory or enterprise in Hamhung said their business “grew popular because they offered several dishes with various ingredients they personally collected, but if they come under the management of the city government, it will become difficult to offer service at the same standard.”
The order is also causing chaos on the ground.
“In the case of photo studios and fizzy drink shops, the private operators run their shops with equipment they personally purchased and installed, and insecurity is mounting about whether that equipment will revert to the state if their shops are incorporated into the official commercial network,” the source said.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: dailynk.com
