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

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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.

newsletterJUNE 2013 2

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eventsStylish Queen’s Day Dinner World Private Label fair AmsterdamJunior Chamber International: exploring MacedoniaprojectsDairy Farming Macedonia: deploying Dutch knowledgenetworkModint: Focus on ready made and explore the marketmembersAmbassador Schuurman explored Toranica mineSteel Con builds factory in Stip for Dutch clientVitalia health food at World Private Label fair AmsterdamKonimex on business trip to the NetherlandsserviceCustomized business tripstatisticsDutch Export EUshortNew flight times Eindhoven-SkopjeAgenda

Sponsors ofFoundation NL Chamber:

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newsletter no. 2 / June 2013

Maintaining close relations with and amongst the members, catching up with eachother and exchanging ideas, require regu lar gatherings. There-fore NL Chamber gladly seized the opportunity of the Dutch national holiday “Queen’s Day” on 30 April for organizing a stylish dinner in restaurant Den i Nokj in Skopje, right af-ter the official reception of the Netherlands Embassy at the same location.The rich four-course dinner

On the Dutch national holiday Queen’s Day, NL Chamber organized a stylish dinner for members at restaurant Den i Nokj in Skopje.

events

Stylish Queen’s Day Dinner

of international meat and fish dishes and dessert was high-ly appre ciated by the present members.

matching wine

Skovin Winery had arranged for wines matching the various courses of the menu, where-as Pivara Skopje provided for Heineken beer and softdrinks.

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abdication

On 28 January, three days for her 75th birthday, Queen Beatrix announced her abdication per 30 April, with which Queen’s Day 2013 became the day of succession. By law crown prince Willem-Alexander became King of the Nether-lands at the moment of signing the declaration of abdication. Later that day the inauguration ceremony took place.

King’s Day: 27 April

King Willem-Alexander de-cided to celebrate King’s Day on his birthday, 27 April, wereas 30 April was the birthday of his grand-mother, late Queen Juliana.

royal family

Willem-Alexander (46) is married to Queen Máxima (42) and they have three daughters: Princess Amalia (9), Princess Alexia (8) and Princess Ariane (6).For more information, see:

www.koninklijkhuis.nl

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newsletter no. 2 / June 2013

NL Chamber member Vitalia was exhibitor at the fair World Private Label in Amsterdam. Members Konimex and Tinex went to the fair as visitors.

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World Private Label fair Amsterdam

In autumn 2012 NL Chamber visited new member Vitalia, producer of health food pro-ducts. CEO Nikola Vetadzo-koski explained their long-term experience with exhibiting at World Private Label in Amster-dam and expressed the wish to participate together with other Macedonian companies in a country pavilion in 2014.

beyond expectations

Retail chain group Tinex al-ways visits the fair with several people from their purchasing department. Konimex, grower and processor of (organic) tea, herbs and essential oils, de-cided to join NL Chamber to evaluate the potential of this fair. “World Private Label really exceeded all my expectations. For various companies that I got to know before, I now even had the chance to meet with the top management at this fair,” says Viktor Kolovski, CEO of Konimex.

Surprisingly, there were three more Macedo nian companies exhibiting individually. With enough interest, NL Chamber will initiate a joint pavilion for the 2014 edition of the fair.

fair profile

location: Amsterdam RAI Exhibition Centresurface: 87,000 sqm, 11 hallsdates: Tuesday 28 and Wednesday 29.05.2013next year: Tuesday 20 and Wednesday 21.05.2014exhibitors: 21,000 from 70 countriessections: only divided in food and non-food

most exhibitors participated in regional or country pavilions:

country no. of exhibitors / organizerAustria 53 / Austrian Federal Economic ChamberBelgium 43 / Wallonia Foreign Trade and Investment Agency 85 / Flanders Investment and TradeCroatia 11, including Agrokor / Croatian Chamber of EconomyGreece 39, including Kri KriHungary 23 / Hungarian Investment and Trade AgencyLatvia 9 / Union of Latvian Fish Processing IndustryPoland 112 / Ministry of Agriculture; Region Eastern PolandSerbia 13 / Serbia Investment & Export Promotion Agency

Bulgaria was present with 16 exhibitors, but like the four exhibitors from Macedonia, all participated individually.

Massively present countries were France (140 exhibitors), Germa-ny (347), Italy (238) and Spain (129). China was present with 61 exhibitors in the non-food section and 10 in the food section. There were 51 exhibitors from South Korea.

Several companies, like toilet paper producers Paloma from Slove-nia, Harmony Slovakia and Hero, Remia and United Coffee from the Netherlands had large individual stands.

Click for more information: www.plmainternational.com

World Private Labelproduct groups

• food shelf stable, fresh, frozen• beverages only a few exhibitors in beer, wine and liquers• health & beauty products• pet products• household products• houseware, do-it-yourself• packaging & design

Serbian country pavilion clearly visible in the middle of the Europa hall.

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newsletter no. 2 / June 2013

No less than 25 young entrepreneurs from Junior Chamber International (JCI) met with the Netherlands Embassy and NL Chamber members on a sunny Saturday afternoon.

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Junior Chamber International: exploring Macedonia

The local branch Twente of Junior Chamber International (JCI) took the initiative for a short exploration mission to Macedonia from 14-16 June. Based on the experience with working in Macedonia of one of their members, Gerben Abbink, an impressive group of 25 members came to Skopje.

entrepreneurial spiritalways on the alert

Since it was just a weekend trip, the nature of this visit was leisure. But because JCI is a network of young entrepre-neurs, the delegation imme-diately grabbed the chance to learn about the business potential of Macedonia. They visi ted the Embassy and met with NL Chamber members: an entrepreneurial spirit is al-ways on the alert.

barrage of questions

Deputy Head of Mission Peter Verheyen opened the Embassy

on Saturday afternoon for a real barrage of questions on bilateral business opportuni-ties. Unlike their Macedonian colleagues, Dutch entrepre-neurs ask a lot of questions during such meetings, which is why Verheyen and NL Cham-ber director Bob Smit just pro-vided a short introduction, al-lowing for an extensive series of questions and answers that lasted more than two hours.

NL Chamber members

Prior to this trip all NL Cham-ber members received a profile

Entrepreneurs of Junior Chamber International discussing bilateral business opportunities at the Embassy.

of the participants with names, companies and description of their business. After the mee-ting at the Embassy five NL Chamber members in textiles, printing and ICT met with the delegation for a drink.

JCI Macedonia

Since Macedonia does not yet have a local branch of Junior Chamber International, both JCI Twente and country organization JCI Netherlands expressed inte rest to help set-ting up a first JCI branche in Macedonia.

Junior Chamber International (JCI) is a non-profit organization of 200,000 entrepreneurs under 40 years of age in 5,000 local branches in over 100 countries. The Netherlands has 99 branches.

JCI members take up the responsibility as global citenzens to use their entrepreneurial spirit and creative minds in local development initiatives for a better society. see:www.jci.cc

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newsletter no. 2 / June 2013

The dairy farming sector in Macedonia is very fragmented: there are many dairy farmers with less than 10 cows which makes any investment in quan-tity and quality improvements unfeasible. On the other hand, the larger dairy farms suffer from insufficient feed produc-tion, inadequate cow health management and old-fashio-ned methods and equipment. “Only to meet the domestic demand, we are forced to im-port condensed milk, whereas our raw milk payments can easily compete with the cur-rent Dutch prices,” says Zlatko Najdovski, CEO of BiMilk.

Dutch knowledge

Last autumn, BiMilk invested in the purchase of 700 cows to be placed with their suppliers under favourable repayment arrangements. In order to im-prove the operation of one of their larger suppliers, BiMilk also arranged for an internship of two Dutch students of Van Hall Larenstein in Leeuwarden in March. See their findings in the box on the next page.

emigration Dutch farmers

For decades emigration has been a common challenge for Dutch farmers: in a densely

NL Chamber member BiMilk struggles with insufficient domestic raw milk supplies. For Dutch companies and educational institutions in dairy industry as well as for Dutch dairy farmers there are good opportunities in dairy farming development in Macedonia.

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Dairy Farming Macedonia: deploying Dutch knowledge

populated country as the Nether lands lack of space is hindering growth and also leads to various restrictive regulations. In the old days Dutch farmers moved their business to spacious countries like Australia, Canada, the US and South Africa. More recent-ly, Dutch farmers started emi-grating to Poland, Russia and Romania. Najdovski: “A couple of Dutch farmers with each up to a hundred dairy cows on 80 hectares would mean a mar-vellous improvement to dairy farming in Macedonia. Good pieces of land are already available for 5-7,000 EUR/ha.”

showcasing good practice

The Macedonian government agrees with Najdovski: “The Ministry of Agriculture is very

aware of the need to showcase good practices through foreign dairy farmers that set up a business in Mace donia.”

training

Ambassador Schuurman per-sonally facilitated the negotia-tions between BiMilk and PUM Netherlands Senior Experts for a training scheme for dairy farmers. The Memorandom of Understanding on this co-oper-ation is expected to be signed before autumn.Through NL Chamber also the dairy department of the Uni-versity for professional educa-tion Van Hall Larenstein has shown interest to develop a training programme, possibly in co-operation with the re-cently established Dutch Dairy Campus in Leeuwarden. ph

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Larger dairy farm in Macedonia. The well-known black-white Friesian Holsteiner dairy cows are less suitable for Macedonian temperatures.

www.bimilk.mk

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newsletter no. 2 / June 2013

NL Chamber discussed the opportunities for Macedonian garment producers on the Dutch fashion market: the demand is moving more and more to ready made garments.

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Modint: Focus on ready made and explore the market

“The Dutch fashion industry is still facing declines due to the economic crisis. Moreover, several brands decided to dis-continue their CMT-operation, so the market for Macedonian producers is getting smaller,” says Antonio Barberi, inter-national trade consultant at Modint.CMT or cut-make-trim is the default way of working of Mace-donian garment manufactu-rers: they only arrange for the labour intensive part of cutting and sewing and eventually for

buying the trimmings, where-as the foreign client supplies design, patterns, fabrics, la-bels and packaging materials.

future is ready made

Barberi urges the Macedonian textile industry to focus their development on producing ready made garments (RMG). “Who wants to sell on the Dutch market should study the Dutch market, for a start by simply visiting the fashion fair Modefabriek in Amsterdam,” suggests Barberi.

about Modint

Modint is an association of 750 producers, importers, agents and traders in gar-ments, fashion accessories, carpets and home textiles, creating a total annual turn-over of 9 billion EUR of which 50% is exported.

NL Chamber member Karma Bella is also Modint member.

Modint has been supportive in the market access activities of the Dutch export coach-ing programme “Outerwear Mace donia”, but would nor-mally charge some 12,000 EUR for a customized match-making event.

See: www.modint.nl

low quality plastic sheeting leads to cracks...

findings Dutch students on dairy farming Macedonia

...and the upper layer of the silage gets rotten

remains of feed in the manure show incomplete digestion

bad housing leads to draught, resulting in pneumonia...

...and sharp edges may cause injuries...

...while manure storage threa-tens cow health and hygiene

not spreading manure over the fields is like wasting fertilizer...

...and overdue maintenance leads to unusable equipment

in-calf cows waiting for delivery

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newsletter no. 2 / June 2013

Sponsors of Foundation NL Chamber

www.boekestijntransport.com

www.pivaraskopje.com.mk

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newsletter no. 2 / June 2013

On Tuesday 21.05.2013 Dutch Ambassador Marriët Schuur-man visited the Toranica mine near Kriva Palanka. NL Cham-ber member Indo Minerals and Metals (IMM) exploits this mine as well as the Zletovo mine near Probistip for lead and zinc ore.Ambassador Schuurman and NL Chamber director Bob Smit were guided around by Mrs Bil-jana Crvenkovska-Jovanoska from IMM’s Skopje office and plant manager Mr Mehta.

froth flotation

The ore is transported by rail from the inside of the moun-tain to the processing plant. The ore is first processed into

NL Chamber member Indo Minerals and Metals operates two mines for lead and zinc ore in Macedonia. Ambassador Schuurman explored the operations and environmental pro-tection measu res at Toranica.

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Ambassador Schuurman explored Toranica mine

fine particles by crushing and grinding. The result is a mix-ture of grains of minerals and metals which is mixed with water. Following the froth flo-tation process, chemicals are added to the slurry to increase the hydrophobicity of the lead. By aerating the slurry, the lead bubbles up to the surface as a froth which is then skimmed. By adding other chemicals to the remaining slurry, the zinc bubbles up as a froth which is then also skimmed.

environmental protection

IMM is part of the Binani Group which feels very strongly about environmental responsibility:

Froth of lead concentrate bubbling up and being skimmed

The grinder, grinding the ore

Ambassador Marriët Schuurman, NL Chamber director Bob Smit and plant manager Mehta at the highest entrance of the mine

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Skimming zinc concentrate froth

simple market

The two final products are lead (Pb) and zinc (Zn) concentrate. “The entire production of lead and zinc concentrate is sold on contracts for 3 to 5 years with one single customer. New con-tracts are closed every year in October in London,” Bil-jana Crvenkov ska-Jovanoska explains.

“The company’s efforts are fo-cused on prudently using and conserving natural resources and deploying superior tech-nical solutions to prevent eco-logical contamination.” The un-avoidable waste of the Toranica mine is stored in a remote ba-sin that is fully isolated from the environment.

www.binaniindustries.com

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newsletter no. 2 / June 2013

Dutch-Macedonian joint-venture Steel Con is constructing a factory for a Dutch com-pany in Stip.

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Steel Con builds factory in Stip for Dutch client

The Dutch-Macedonian joint-venture in reinforcement bars and steel constructions, Steel Con from Kumanovo, is con-structing a factory in Stip. The client is the Dutch-owned company Vitezis, producer of slings for the health care sec-tor. Vitezis is currently renting premises in Stip, but with the growth of the business and the introduction of a new product, sliding sheets, the company was ready for an own, larger building.

www.steelcon.mk Construction of a factory for Dutch Vitezis in Stip by Steel Con.

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Health food producer Vitalia exhibited at the fair World Private Label in Amsterdam.

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Vitalia health food at World Private Label fair Amsterdam

For the fourth year Vitalia exhi-bited at the fair World Private Label in Amsterdam. “Also this year we had a substantial num-ber of food trade professionals visi ting our stand. Sales nego-tiations are going on,” says Maja Duckinoska of Vitalia.A new product line with Chia seeds and Stevia extracts was selected for the showroom of innovative products and con-

cepts “Idea Supermarket” at the fair. Vitalia already sells to a major Dutch wholesale com-pany as a result of a previous edition of World Private Label.

www.vitalia.com.mk

Quite some traffic at Vitalia stand

While visiting the fair World Private Label Konimex also visited several potential clients.

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Konimex on business trip to the Netherlands

While visiting the Nether-lands for the occasion of the fair World Private Label Viktor Kolovski, CEO of Konimex, also took the chance to visit several other potential business part-ners.Kolovski: “This was really a last-minute trip, but with the help of NL Chamber I still ma-

na ged to get in touch with the key stakeholders in (organic) herbs, tea and essential oils trade on the Dutch market.”

www.konimex.com.mk

Viktor Kolovski at potential client

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newsletter no. 2 / June 2013

Macedonian companies with a clear idea of potential Dutch business partners, can order a customized business trip from NL Chamber. The same goes for Dutch companies, looking for Macedonian business partners. Members and sponsors receive a discount.

service

Customized business trip

Despite all contemporary ways of communication, including LinkedIn - where the Dutch are amongst the most active users in Europe - face-to-face meetings remain essential for fruitful business co-operation.

never waste a journey

Whether you are a Dutch entre peneur looking for part-ners in Macedonia or a Mace-donian company with ambi-

statistics

Dutch Export EUWith the accession to the EU of Croatia on 1 July, the internal market becomes again bigger. Dutch export to the new EU-members shows the fastest growth. More than half of that growth concerns Poland and Hungary.However, the share of these new EU-markets in total Dutch export value remains small, whereas non-EU markets gain more importance.Currently, the export to Croa-tia is 0.1 %.

source: Statistics Netherlands

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tions on the Dutch market, NL Chamber can assist you in developing your business trip, customized to your needs and available time. Most impor-tant: never waste a journey! If you are travelling anyway, visi ting a fair, an existing client or even friends or relatives: do inform NL Chamber about your itinerary, because there might be some interesting opportuni-ties to fill up your agenda!

discount for members

The Board of NL Chamber has defined a tariff of 300 EUR/day for composing a programme, scheduling meetings and - if desired - guidance during the business trip. Members and sponsors receive a discount of 50% on this tariff. Costs for transport, accommodation, food, admittance etc. are not included.

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New flight times Eindhoven-Skopje

flight times from 28 October.On Mondays and Fridays:EIN 14h10 SKP 16h55SKP 17h25 EIN 20h20

Agenda14.07 Fashion fair Modefabriek www.modefabriek.nl15.07 Fashion fair Modefabriek www.modefabriek.nl08.09 Independence Day Macedonia

Budget carrier Wizzair, con-necting Skopje to Eindhoven twice a week, will change the