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.
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The CCC has
already achieved success with Quiport, and
now it is about to land a deal with Pacifictel
and has even proposed to guarantee certain
projects in the oil and gas sector
What
can you reveal regarding these new projects?
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/
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