the canadian market represents a big opportunity

Капитал број 760 23.05.2014
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38
Интервју
INTERview
Roman
Waschuk
Ambassador of Canada to Serbia, Macedonia & Montenegro
THE CANADIAN MARKET
REPRESENTS A BIG
OPPORTUNITY FOR
MACEDONIAN EXPORTERS
Macedonian food products
especially the delicacy segment, wine, and fine fabrics
have the biggest potential
for distribution in Canada.
Conversely, Macedonia represents a unique investment
opportunity for Canadian
investors in the fields of
mining, IT technologies and
green energy.
Igor Petrovski
igor.petrovski@kapital.mk
Mr. Roman Waschuk, the Canadian
Ambassador to Serbia, Macedonia &
Montenegro was in attendance during
the closing ceremony for The Leader
Project 2014. As one of the key supporters of the program we took the time to
talk with him about the importance of
the initiative as well as other important
business aspects with respect to the
relationship between the two countries.
XX
Mr. Ambassador, can you tell us
what kind of program is The Leader
Project and what is the role of the
Embassy of Canada in this initiative?
The role of the Leader Project is simple
and straightforward, which is to help
educate managers for small and medium
size businesses to become more effective leaders. This (2014) being the
seventh year in operation we selected
30 managers, entrepreneurs and owners
from Macedonia that had the opportunity to learn from Canadian experts.
The program is collaboration between
Macedonia2025, the Macedonian
Chambers of Commerce and Richard
www.kapital.mk
Капитал број 760 23.05.2014
Интервју
Ivey School of Business from Canada.
During the course three instructors from the Leader Project trained
Macedonian businessmen in several
fields – business strategy, action plans,
finance, marketing strategy, inventory
management, and communication
skills. Actually, our Embassy does not
organize this project; we just give
moral support for the initiative, which
was initiated by Macedonia2025 and
the Chambers of Commerce. Our primary goal is to reaffirm that Canada is
a close friend of Macedonia and committed to help with resources, in this
case education, in building a stronger
and more competitive business sector
in Macedonia.
XX
How would you categorize your
relationship with Macedonia2025,
an organization which unites the
Macedonian Diaspora?
As you know, in Canada there are representatives of Diasporas from all over
the world and in my experience as a
diplomat so far I have had the pleasure
to interact with many of them. The
Macedonian Diaspora, with its many
established representatives in the
business and social life in Canada, is
one of the most active and dedicated
when it comes to strengthening the
Macedonian economy and the country
in general. Most of the credit needs to
go to Macedonia2025 that continues to
provide enormous energy and enthusiasm in organizing projects that will
help enhance the capabilities and skills
of Macedonian managers. It takes a
big effort to find the people that can
make meaningful contributions to their
respective business that are willing
to dedicate part of their valuable free
time in order to improve themselves.
Because of the measurable success of
The Leader Project in Macedonia we
are now in discussions with the Richard
Ivey School of Business and the other
partners to expand this initiative in the
neighboring countries as well.
XX
Currently Macedonia and Canada
do not have any significant trade
agreements or similar economic
cooperation? Do you see a potential
in developing business between the
two countries?
You are correct; the trade agreement at
this point is modest but is growing constantly. Surprisingly, the most exported
product from Canada to Macedonia is
meat But, in addition to meat we can
also make products with higher-added
value with the help and technology from
Canada.. In Canada we have big companies in the field of mining and extracting
mineral resources and one of them is
Euromax, which is already present in
Macedonia and has committed to invest
over 500 million Euros in extracting gold
and copper. And there’s room for other
investments in this field. Then there is
the IT sector where Cosmic Development, a Canadian company founded by
Chris Pavlovski, whose family is from
Macedonia, has established offices in
Skopje and recently expanding in Bitola
as well. These are few examples of Canadian companies creating jobs in Macedonia with mutually-beneficial results.
XX
What other products and services
from Macedonia do you think can be
exported to Canada market?
The most obvious ones are textiles and
food product. Personally I simply love
Macedonian food, and from what I know
the Canadian instructors as well, which
means that your products can be easily accepted by the average Canadian
consumer. The challenge is how these
products will enter the system of
distribution in Canada, where the
consumers will not always recognize
whether they buy a Macedonian
product or brand. That’s why The
Leader Project is so important;
it has the potential to educate
Macedonian exporters on how to
best differentiate their products. As you know, Canada is a
multicultural society with 50
– 60 different ethnic representatives who have their
own characteristic food and
other products so competition is pretty stiff. This is
why I am so excited about
the Leader Project and its
39
potential of training the participants to
be more competitive. In addition, I see
huge opportunities in the wine business.
Canada’s two biggest provinces have a
single government company, each can
sell wholesale and can also import. For
example, the company operating in the
province Ontario is the biggest single
world wine buyer, because it is the
only company that distributes wine to
a market of 11–12 million people. That
opens up a big opportunity for Macedonian wine exporters. Here in Canada we
have retail chains that develop their own
private labels in the premium segment,
unlike the usual practice where the private labels are mostly in the lower-end
of the market. There’s also possibility
for other Macedonian companies, such
as delicacy food manufacturers, to find
their place in that distribution channel as
well. Suffice it to say, the opportunities
for greater cooperation
are plentiful and I am
personally committed to finding
ways to expand
each and every
one of them.