Dutch-MacedonianChamber of Commerce

c/o Netherlands Embassy Leninova 69-71 1000 Skopje Republic of Macedonia

e: info@nlchamber.org.mkw: www.nlchamber.org.mk

fb.com/nlchamber twitter.com/nlchamber

linkedin.com/../nl-chamber

youtube.com/user/nlchamber

NL Chamber was established in January 2012 as official Dutch-Macedonian Chamber of Commerce by 50 Macedonian companies, according to the Macedo nian Law on Chambers of Commerce.

One third of these companies is partly or fully Dutch owned.

Objective of NL Chamber is to promote and support successful business relations between Dutch and Macedonian companies.

newsletterMARCH 2013 1

phot

o: N

L Ch

ambe

r

eventsFirst Dies NatalisSecond General AssemblyprojectsBanking 4 Business: modern efficient proceduresnetworkAgricultural education from CAH-Vilentum on the BalkansmembersAmbassador Schuurman visited chair factory DIK FagusPruning of vines at Sveti TrifunHolland Plant Factory new Dutch venture in MacedoniaLinea launches Summer Collection 2013serviceBusiness partner background checkstatisticsDecreasing deficitnetherlands embassyDutch support still available for Macedonian companiesshortTraining Management Agricultural CooperativesEmigration FairAgenda

Sponsors ofFoundation NL Chamber:

2

newsletter no. 1 / March 2013

On Friday 18.01.2013 it was exactly one year ago that fifty Macedonian companies esta-blished the Dutch- Macedonian Chamber of Commerce.NL Chamber member Skovin Winery hosted this first “Dies Natalis” at the Wine Cellar in Skopje.

NL Chamber celebrated its first birthday with a networking event at the Wine Cellar of Skovin in Skopje.

events

First Dies Natalis

The success of NL Chamber heavily depends on close rela-tions with members and stake-holders and this celebration offered an excellent opportu-nity to catch up, exchange ideas and establish new rela-tions.

Having celebrated the first Dies Natalis, it was time to review the past year and to plan next steps in the development of NL Chamber at the annual Gene-ral Assembly that took place on 25 March at the headquar-ters of Pivara Skopje.

sponsor

Being a part of Dutch Heineken, Pivara Skopje is not only a member, but also sponsor to the Foundation NL Chamber.The former Commercial Direc-tor for Heineken at Pivara Skopje, Diederik Kalff, was actively involved in planning and structuring NL Chamber and was elected first Presi-

The second General Assembly of the members of NL Chamber took place on 25 March at the Headquarters of Pivara Skopje.

events

Second General Assembly

dent. Upon his departure, the Board appointed his succes-sor at Pivara, Arjen Reijnierse, as interim President. At the Gene ral Assembly Reijnierse was elected unanimously as president of NL Chamber.

After a review of the activities of the first year and an over-view of the plans for the com-ing year, the members where invited to a tour through the brewery, followed by a cocktail and buffet.

phot

os: N

L Ch

ambe

r

3

newsletter no. 1 / March 2013

Numerous documents, all to be filled out with more or less the same data. Multiple copies, all to be signed and stamped. Original invoices and contracts, for the bank to approve the receipt of foreign currency. Suffocating requirements due to verification obligations that in any modern economy are strictly the domain of the book-keeper and in the end the tax authorities. That is banking in the 21st century in Macedonia.

26 signatures, 20 stamps

An illustrative example is the application for a business cre-dit card of the Visa and Master brands. Obtaining a business credit card requires 8 docu-ments in 2 to 4 copies, piling up to 49 pages with 26 signa-tures and 20 stamps. Although also a recent trade register extract and a full set of fi-nancial statements from the bookkeeping department has to be provided, the bank still requires a permanent deposit of the full amount of the de-sired credit limit as well as 12 (twelve!) signed blanc transfer

Macedonia is ranking very high on international ease of doing business lists. However, old-fashioned and increasingly regulated banking procedures form a major obstacle for efficient business operations which is damaging the potential and competitiveness of the Macedonian economy.

projects

Banking 4 Business: modern efficient procedures

orders and a fancy check called “menica” which needs to be bought, stamped and signed at three designated spots.That is more than enough to scare away any foreign inves-tor, but it is common practice in Macedonia.

business climate

Macedonia currently ranks 23rd on the World Bank’s Doing Business ranking. The Netherlands is behind at 31. Obviously, banking is some-thing a foreign investor has to experience in practice. More-over, domestic companies take this situation for “normal”, while wasting time, money and nerves on superfluous regula-tions.

Banking 4 Business

Since an adequate business climate enables companies to grow, create jobs and contri-bute to the development of the local economy, NL Chamber decided to launch the project Banking 4 Business in Autumn 2012 with the objective to cut red tape and improve the ease

of banking in Macedonia. The principles for these improve-ments are the following:• avoid providing the same

data multiple times• focus on single-stamp and

single signature procedures• a bank is not a bookkeeper

nor a tax inspector: collec-ting invoices and contracts matching with international money transfers is none of their business

• collecting endless rows of documents for security rea-sons is counter-productive: the common practice to take a fresh copy of identy papers at every single oc-casion proves that any im-portant document becomes a needle in a haystack in the bank’s archives, which is in fact very insecure

Meanwhile, all laws and regu-lations that deal with opera-ting a business bank account and international payments have been analysed. In the coming months easy to imple-ment measures for relieving the administrative burdens will be defined.

CAH develops agricultural training programmes in Mace-donia. NL Chamber went to Dronten to visit their brand new building: a modern green-house, turned into state-of-the art vocational training centre!

See: www.cahvilentum.eu

The University of Applied Science CAH Vilentum in Dronten and Almere is specialized in agriculture and develops EU-funded training programmes on the Balkans

network

Agricultural education from CAH-Vilentum on the Balkans

phot

o: N

L Ch

ambe

r

4

newsletter no. 1 / March 2013

Sponsors of Foundation NL Chamber

www.boekestijntransport.com

www.pivaraskopje.com.mk

5

newsletter no. 1 / March 2013

On Friday 21.12.2013 Dutch Ambassador Marriët Schuur-man travelled to Pehcevo in eastern Macedonia to visit the factory for wooden uphol-stered chairs Wood Industry Combinate Fagus, or DIK Fa-gus in short.Every week five truckloads of chairs leave the factory in Pehcevo, of which one has the Netherlands as final destina-tion. That was a good reason for Ambassador Schuurman to

Every week a full truck of upholstered wooden chairs leaves Pehcevo in eastern Mace-donia to the Netherlands.

members

Ambassador Schuurman visited chair factory DIK Fagus

pay a visit to DIK Fagus.The factory, a former state company, was bought in 2005 by the company Mebel DOO in Stip, Macedonia. Mebel pro-duces wooden furniture, but also window frames and doors. The factory for upholstered chairs has a capacity of 15,000 chairs per month and employs 200 people. All tree-trunks are supplied by the state enterprise Macedonian Forests, whereas fabrics and leather are usually

supplied by the client.

ERP-system

“We have recently purchased a former textile factory in near-by Berovo in order to increase our capacity,” says CEO Pe-tre Jordev. “Currently we are inves ting in an ERP-system to monitor every step of the pro-duction process and keep real-time track of the order flow.”

www.mebel.com.mkwww.facebook.com/...

DIK Fagus receives the tree-trunks straight from state enterprise Macedonian Forests

Finished product, waiting for final inspection and packagingCEO Petre Jordev and Dutch Ambassador Marriët Schuurman ph

otos

: NL

Cham

ber

6

newsletter no. 1 / March 2013

At Sveti Trifun the wine sector celebrates the official start of the pruning of the vines.

members

Pruning of vines at Sveti Trifun

For wine lovers, February 14th is not only the day of Saint Valentine, but also Saint Trifun day. Sveti Trifun is the guardi-an of the wine growers and the day marks the official start of the pruning of the vines.For Sveti Trifun Macedonian wineries organize a celebra-tion that starts with the tradi-tional pruning of the vines by a priest, followed by the degus-tation of their latest wines as the earliest result of last year’s harvest.

Celebration at the temporarily extended restaurant at Stobi Winery

Prayers for protection of the vines at Popova Kula Winery

Lazar Petrov of Popova Kula Winery pruning the vines.

These wineries are active members of NL Chamber:

Popova Kula, Demir Kapijawww.popovakula.com.mk

Skovin, Skopjewww.skovin.com.mk

Stobi, Gradskowww.stobiwinery.mk

Tikveš, Kavadarciwww.tikves.com.mk

phot

os: N

L Ch

ambe

r

Inspired by the stories of his business relations, Robert van de Zanden stepped into a new venture with Holland Plant Factory in Macedonia. Robert is the type of entrepreneur that is always looking for a new challenge, which became very clear at the visit to his Dutch company, strawberry plants grower Aardbei Extra. “We never use a machine just like we bought it. We always have some engineering to do, to fully adapt the equipment to

The best promotion for doing business in Macedonia are the success stories of the pio-neers, buzzing around in your network: also Robert van de Zanden came to Macedonia.

members

Holland Plant Factory new Dutch venture in Macedonia

our ideas,” says Robert while he shows us his workshop.

double GPS

“Whatever machine we drive out into fields, it’s all equiped with double GPS. We put the plants in raised beds in dead straight lines. Afterwards, weeding can be done quickly and mechanically, because with double GPS we know within a margin of only 2 centi metres exactly where the plants are. Similarly, spraying against

diseases can be targeted very precisely and thus minimizing the use of pesticides.”In Macedonia Robert is tes ting alternative crops, following the latest market developments.

7

newsletter no. 1 / March 2013

Mr Stamen Trajanov started Linea in 1995. Meanwhile both his daughter, fashion designer Slavica Basarovska and his son Petar Trajanov started working in the company after finishing university in Milan, Italy. Un-like the vast majority of gar-ment factories in Macedonia, Linea is not only active with CMT-production for foreign fashion houses, but also has its own collection of light ladies’ wear for which they source the fabrics through the world-known fairs in Paris. Linea has four shops in Skopje, one in Stip and one in Kavadarci.

www.linea.com.mkwww.facebook.com/linea.mk

Fashion factory Linea from Stip is one of the most active members of NL Chamber, a much respected participant in every event.

members

Linea launches Summer Collection 2013

past, but also beautiful:collection summer 2012

phot

os: L

inea

8

newsletter no. 1 / March 2013

Anyone who would like to have background information on a potential Dutch client or supplier, can order a full trade register extract through NL Chamber, translated from Dutch into Macedonian. Members receive a discount.

service

Business partner background check

Prior to getting into business and accepting certain payment conditions, it is sometimes wise to get the full picture on your business relation. For those occasions NL Chamber offers full extracts from the Dutch trade register, translated from Dutch into Macedonian.

payment upon delivery

“We received a large order from a Dutch client, with the request to pay upon delivery. The back-ground check of NL Chamber with the trade register extracts gave us firm information about the clients background and business activities, helping us in our decision making process. An agreement was signed, and the client paid upon delivery,” says Novica Sotarovski, CEO of printing house Bato & Divajn. Also Zavar and Vima Fashion have already used this service.

discount for members

Prices depend on the charges of the Dutch trade register, related to the availability of information, but range from 1,000 to 2,500 MKD. Members receive a discount up to 50%.

statistics

Decreasing deficitThe deficit in trade value of goods of Macedonia with the Netherlands is constantly de-creasing. In 2012 the deficit was with 20.6 million EUR 21% smaller than in 2011. In 2011 the deficit shrank with 34%, since the Macedonian exports grew more than the imports.

source: Statistics Netherlands

illus

trat

ions

: NL

Cham

ber

9

newsletter no. 1 / March 2013

The so-called Private Sector Development Instruments of the Dutch government, bet-ter know as the programmes abbreviated as MMF, PSI and PUM are still available to Mace donian companies. See the contact details for each of these programmes elsewhere on this page.

new form matchmaking

NL Agency, an organization of the Dutch Minis try of Eco-nomic Affairs, manages the MatchMaking Faci lity (MMF) for finding business partners in the Netherlands and the well-known PSI programme for support of joint investments. For matchmaking a new appli-cation form is available at NL Agency: bit.ly/15mAwiS

second tender investments

Twice a year NL Agency opens a tender for receiving invest-ment proposals under the PSI programme. The Dutch part-ner in the investment plan, can apply for a 50% grant up

to 750,000 EUR. The closing date for the second PSI-tender of 2013 is 26.08.2013.For more information on proce-dure and requirements please refer to NL Agency or contact the Embassy (see blue box).

The Dutch government continues to invest in private sector development through the programmes MMF, PSI and PUM.

netherlands embassy

Dutch support still available for Macedonian companies

Prinses Beatrixlaan 2PO Box 931142509 AC THE HAGUEThe Netherlands

MMF - MatchMaking Facilityt: +31 88 6028110f: +31 88 6029026e: mmf@info.agentschapnl.nlw: www.agentschapnl.nl/mmf

PSI - Private Sector Investmentt: +31 88 6028513f: +31 88 6029026e: psi@info.agentschapnl.nlw: www.agentschapnl.nl/psi

Netherlands EmbassyMr Jane KjukaEconomy and Trade Officert: +389 2 3109250e: jane.kjuka@minbuza.nl

NL Agency Ministry of Economic Affairs

PUM - Netherlands Senior Expertst: +31 70 3490555f: +31 70 3490590e: info@pum.nlw: www.pum.nl

local representativesMrs Beti Dejanovat: +389 2 3125071m: +389 70 641641e: beti.dejanova@pum.nlMr Boris Kareskit: +389 2 3239255f: +389 78 355362e: boris.kareski@pum.nl

PUM Netherlands Senior Ex-perts offers a wide range of ex-perts who can assist Macedo-nian companies free of charge. Benificiaries are only required to arrange for accomodation, food and local transport. For more information and applica-tion, please visit www.pum.nl,or contact the local repre-sentatives (contact details in the yellow box above).

short

Training Manage-ment Agricultural CooperativesThe Federation of Farmers of Macedonia (FFRM) invites farmers to apply for a training on management of agricultural cooperatives. The training lasts two weeks and will take place in autumn 2013, while the se-lection procedure of 16 par-ticipants will take place during summer. The Dutch company

Horti-Match is organizing this training under the Leonardo life-long learning programme of the European Commission.For application see:

www.ffrm.org.mk

Emigration FairThe annual Emigration Fair in Houten, the Netherlands since this year has an agriculture section, especially focusing on emigration of agricultural en-trepreneurs looking for space for development abroad.

source: www.boederij.nl

Agenda30.04 Queen’s Day Dinner restaurant Den i Nokj, Skopje, 17h0028.05 World Private Label fair29.05 World Private Label fair