Let us first talk about President Gutiérrez - could you share your impression of the man and his leadership?

The president is an interesting, many-faceted man. Everyone agrees that he has been an intellectually brilliant soldier, first in his class in all efforts, that he is a quick study and has a good grasp of the country's problems, although his background has been entirely in the military and he has never worked in private industry or academe. Being the first non-elite
president in 172 years is an incredible achievement, especially as he ran in the second round against a multi-billionaire banana king.

I am impressed by his choice of cabinet members, only the Foreign Minister and the Agriculture minister came from his centre left supporters. The rest are technocrats, military or well known public persons of a liberal right wing persuasion. He has been able to win over the IMF in less than a month after taking office, aided by his conservative, urbane banker-type finance minister Mauricio Pozo.

Many observers tell me that his personal working style, namely to try to squeeze 30 hours into a 24-hour day and to travel at the same time, may have two consequences. It will either lead to utter exhaustion (he has already caught a middle ear infection in the process) or will lead to the realisation, that he needs a strong chief of staff to put structure into his work life and to tell the president, when to stop and find some time for him to think. I hope that chief of staff is not far away.

Will he stay? Will his government survive? Is he truly fighting corruption?

My answers is yes on all accounts. There is no alternative to him in sight. There is no concerted group that could oust him. He is personally honest and not likely to enrich himself. Of course, he cannot eradicate all corruption in four years, but he can establish a clean tender system and clean up the taxation system and the customs area, two notorious swamps of corruption. I believe he will succeed on these three fronts and that alone will be a gigantic achievement.

The CCC is active here, as the Ecuadorian government prefers government-to-government agreements, as they provide for a measure of comfort and gives Ecuador the feeling of not being fooled, robbed or cheated by a private foreign firm. Of course, CCC can only be as good as the Canadian subcontractor standing behind it, in the case of the airport it is the Toronto consortium of ADC and Aecon and in the case of the upgrading of the refinery it is Foster Wheeler Canada. You need an active, competent Canadian firm, not averse to taking a risk and with access to financing, before CCC can step in and take the lead. The CCC is so confident about the market that it has appointed its own representative here, Canadian lawyer and entrepreneur Carson Noel, originally from Newfoundland.

Canada has been aggressively promoting alliances and joint ventures. Is this the secret to doing business in Ecuador - to be aggressive?

In marketing, it is always an advantage to be aggressive and to be one step ahead of the competition. We have had a measure of success, as more and more outward looking Canadian companies, like Canarail, and Bombardier, are coming forward in search of opportunities - and we can find them partners. The same is true in reverse. Why? Thanks to the tradition of network of the Canadian trade commissioner service, our contacts are close and fast. We can find a suitable partner back home in Canada in two days, and a suitable partner in Ecuador in 10 days. Also, our enlightened regional division at the Department of Foreign Trade and International Affairs ( DFAIT ) in Ottawa, known as LSR, does not handcuff us with the filling out of meaningless reports, which no one reads anyway. They allow us ample free time to scout around for opportunities, as long as we bring results - and, so far, we have not disappointed them.

For more information:

Office of the Canadian Embassy
Av. 6 de Diciembre 2816 y Paul Rivet
P.O. Box 17-11-6512
Quito - Ecuador
Telephone: (011 593 2) 2232-114 / 2506-162
Fax: (011 593 2) 2503-108
E-mail: quito@dfait-maeci.gc.ca
Web: http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/ecuador/