North Koreans take a lesson in business with a high-tech emphasis

Singapore

THE scene could have been straight out of Silicon Valley. In a startup space decked out with mini trampolines and decorated with inspirational signs ("Everything you can imagine is real"), a dozen business types learned how to create a "lean canvas". "A lean canvas is the perfect way to brainstorm business models," said Christian Halberg, an investment manager who helps train entrepreneurs. "It's a very systematic process." His audience looked at him blankly. For they were not Stanford undergrads dreaming big or programmers at a hackathon. They were North Koreans.

The 12 people - all related to North Korea's technology sector in some way, either through business or academia - spent two weeks in Singapore this month as part of a training programme run by Choson Exchange, a nongovernmental organisation (NGO) dedicated to helping North Koreans in business, law and economic policy.