Dutch-Macedonian Chamber of Commerce c/o Netherlands Embassy Aminta III 69-71 1000 Skopje Republic of Macedonia e: info@nlchamber.org.mk w: www.nlchamber.org.mk fb.com/nlchamber twitter.com/nlchamber linkedin.com/../nl-chamber youtube.com/user/nlchamber
NL Chamber was established in J足 anuary 2012 as official Dutch-Macedonian Chamber of Commerce by 50 Macedonian companies, according to the Macedo足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.
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events Joining our German colleagues at OktoberFest Skopje Fashion Buyer Mission: 13-17 October 2014 Back to Business Breakfast TEDxBinnenhof: Sasho Kocev introduced the Wingman TEDxBinnenhof: selected talks board New President: Wietse Mutters network Introducing new Macedonian Ambassador Igor Popov members Koro organic herbal tea on Dutch shelves New member: Nido Global Textile, table cover producer InterWorks celebrates 10 years Holmak HeatX moved into new facility in Staphorst New member: Tehnokoop, now also known as TK-meubels New member: Vitezis, producer of slings and slide sheets Pivara Skopje introduced Amstel Premium Pilsener Dutch architects exploring Macedonian quarries Vitalia opened a webshop service PLMA: support by Invest in Macedonia requested short Short News / Calendar of Trade Fairs Sponsors of Foundation NL Chamber:
photo: NL Chamber
newsletter SEPTEMBER 2014
newsletter no. 5 / September 2014
events
Joining our German colleagues at OktoberFest Skopje NL Chamber will again join the OktoberFest in Skopje on Thursday 25 September. While München (Munich, Germany) welcomes some 6 million people from around the globe at the traditional Okto berFest, our German collea gues in Macedonia will organize a local OktoberFest in Skopje on Thursday 25 September. This year’s location is
Vero Centar, opposite the National Bank. The world famous OktoberFest in München is an annual 16 day festival with its roots in October 1810 when the wedding of Crown Prince Ludwig and Crown Princess Therese was celebrated their wedding.
events
Fashion Buyer Mission: 13-17 October 2014 Swiss SIPPO is organizing a business mission to Macedonia for European fashion buyers. Dutch fashion companies are most welcome to join!
customized match-making By the end of 2010 it had turned into a concentrated effort by CBI, USAID, SIPPO and GIZ to attract European fashion buyers for a full week of customized match-making with Macedonian garment manufacturers. All programmes have finished, but SIPPO is now reintroducing the Fashion Buyer Mission!
additional support by NL Chamber Additional to the efforts by SIPPO, Dutch and Belgian fashion companies can also count on support by NL Chamber: in the preparation phase, during the mission and in aftercare. Apply directly at: nl.mk/FashionMissionApply Download the flyer at: nl.mk/FashionBuyerMission Nadja Kolb Project Manager Fashion t: +41 44 3655225 e: fashion@s-ge.com w: www.s-ge.com/fashion
click to read earlier editions! No. No. No. No.
4: 3: 2: 1:
pdf download
online reading
nl.mk/NLC-04 nl.mk/NLC-03 nl.mk/NLC-02 nl.mk/NLC-01
issuu.com/.../nlchamber2014-04 issuu.com/.../nlchamber2013-03 issuu.com/.../nlchamber2013-02 issuu.com/.../nlchamber2013-01
photos: Paul Houthuijzen, NL Chamber
Five years ago, Dutch governmental agency CBI introduced the concept “Buyer Mission” in its export development programme for the Macedonian garment industry.
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newsletter no. 5 / September 2014
events
Back to Business Breakfast Almost 30 NL Chamber members gathered to mark the start of the new business season with a Dutch breakfast at printing house Bato & Divajn in Skopje.
Bato & Divajn Amost 30 people showed up at the breakfast meeting which was hosted by printing house Bato & Divajn on the green slopes behind their faci lity
near Drachevo. General Mana ger of Bato & Divajn, Novica Sotarovski and his staff turned the breakfast into a wonderful event in a fabulous entourage, complete with freshly squeezed juice and freshly baked bread from their own wood oven. chocolate sprinkles As suggested by Tikves’ export manager Katerina Kostovska, the table offered a wide variety of both sweet and salty typical
Dutch breakfast items as well as various types of bread and dairy products, with hagelslag (chocolate sprinkles) as the absolute favourite. newborn The welcome bite that was offered to the arriving guests, consisted of lokum and beschuit met muisjes (rusk with aniseed comfits), the latter being the Dutch traditional
photos: Bato & Divajn
Right after the summer holidays, business life is starting again with fresh energy. That was an excellent moment for a gathering with breakfast, hosted by one of our members on Wednesday 10 September.
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newsletter no. 5 / September 2014
snack to celebrate a newborn. Sotarovski expected to become father of his first child any moment. His daughter Ela Orea Sotarovska was born in perfect health the next mor足 ning, Thursday 11 September.
all pictures of this event: nl.mk/B2B-Breakfast
photos: Bato & Divajn
As it was meant to be, the Back to Business Breakfast was not only about tasting the Dutch specialities, but also to get to know eachother and to catch up on current business after the long summer holidays. Various appointments were made to follow-up on the pleasant conversations at this event, which according many should become a tradition.
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newsletter no. 5 / September 2014
events
TEDxBinnenhof: Sasho Kocev introduced the Wingman Prior to the streaming of TEDxBinnenhof, live from The Hague, Sashko Kocev introduced the Dutch inventors of Wingman Condoms at Cineplexx in Skopje. “Global Challenges, Dutch Solutions” was the theme of this edition of TEDxBinnenhof, a series of talks on various innovative ideas, which took place at the heart of the Dutch democracy: Ridderzaal, The Hague. live streaming in Skopje NL Chamber and the Nether lands Embassy invited the Macedonian actor and showbusiness personality Sashko Kocev to host the so-called “viewing party”: live streaming of the event in The Hague, which took place at Cineplexx in Skopje City Mall. Additional to the live strea ming, two Dutch engineers came to Skopje to reveil their mysterious, innovative tool to the audience. The red piece of plastic which was shown prominently on the invitations, posters and social media, appeared to be an applicator for condoms. Paul Breur, CEO of Wingman Condoms BV, demonstrated the Wingman to Sashko Kocev and pointed out the advantages: no air inside, no risk to apply the condom inside out, quicker application - even in darkness. gadget During the preparations of the event NL Chamber director Bob Smit got the idea to invite Wingman Condoms for a presentation: “We were actually looking for an appropriate gadget for the event: an inspi ring, innovative present to give to the audience. Besides that, we planned to have our own
Cover of Macedonian daily newspaper Vest of 02.04.2014
guest in Skopje, as an addition to the live streaming from The Hague.” On a Saturday mor ning Smit was watching the latest episode of the daily Dutch talkshow De Wereld Draait Door in which Paul Breur demonstrated the Wingman for which he just received the prestigious German iF Product Design Award 2014. “This product fully matched our ideal gadget: innovative, award winning and definitely very inspiring!” says Smit with a broad grin. “But what is more important is their story of great entrepreneurship, battle with global brands, perseve rance, venture capital and the fact that the other partner, Adnan
Tunovic originates from Sarajevo, Bosnia!”
iF president Ralph Wiegmann (r) with the Wingman team
www.ifdesign.de
photos: Vest/D. Perkovski, iF International Forum Design GmbH/Roman Thomas and Bernd Schönberger
mysterious tool
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After graduating in mechanical engineering at Delft University of Technology, Breur and Tuno vic ran an engineering company, mainly active in automation solutions for horticulture. easier, quicker, safer
four years Four years later, in 2010, the partners presented a large project to a venture capital enterprise. “They declined our proposal, but said to believe in our capacities as entrepreneurs and they asked whether we had shelved some other ideas.” With this investor, the
Two-page interview in Macedonian daily newspaper Vest, 02.04.2014
Thanks to the event sponsors Tikves Winery and Pivara Skopje
company Wingman Condoms was established to develop its own global brand of condoms, produced in Malaysia and rewar ded with the iF Award early 2014. importer Macedonia Of course, NL Chamber ar-
ranged a meeting with a potential importer for Macedonia, just a couple of hours before their appearance at Cineplexx. “We did not reach an agreement yet, but on our side we have been very occupied with many things,” Breur writes from Spain.
Wingman Condoms BV t: +31 15 2682608 e: info@wingmancondoms.com w: www.wingmancondoms.com
photos: Vest/D. Perkovski, NL Chamber
Back in 2006 Tunovic came up with the idea to make using condoms easier, quicker and safer, in order to minimalize the interuption while making love. They started experimen ting with copper wire until they had a fully functional prototype of plastic. “We got a lot of attention, but none of the major condom brands was interes ted,” Tunovic told the audience gathered in Skopje. “The only way to introduce our invention to the market, was to offer an integrated product: we had to become condom producer ourselves. We choose to let it be and continued with our more ordinairy projects.”
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newsletter no. 5 / September 2014
events
TEDxBinnenhof: selected talks On 31 March NL Chamber and the Netherlands Embassy organized streaming of all the Talks at T EDxBinnenhof, live from The Hague at Cineplexx Skopje. Following our special guests, the inventors of the mysterious tool (see previous pages), TEDxBinnenhof started in The Hague, witnessed by the audience at Cineplexx Skopje. All talks are available at this playlist on youtube: http://nl.mk/TEDxBinnenhof
ir. Heleen Herbert (Heijmans)
introduced the Hydrea Thermpipe, turning sewage pipes into heat exchangers. The ave rage temperature of sewage water is 18°C, with 120 liters per person per day through a sewer system of 100,000 km. view: Hydrea Thermpipe
Three of these talks are summarized below, with relevant links in blue. Prof. dr. ir. Bert Weckhuysen
( Utrecht University) reminded the public of acid rain, which used to be a major problem in the past. Chemists have removed sulphur from fuels and developed catalysts to break down nitrodioxide. Nowadays, farmers need to add sulphure to fertilizers. Weckhuysen believes that chemists will also succeed to drastically reduce CO2 as main greenhouse gas. view: A city that runs on CO2
TEDxBinnenhof is licensed by TED, a world-wide movement showcasing talks to inspire entrepreneurs and policy makers to improve the world under the slogan Ideas worth spreading. Many people, like former IMF Representative to Macedonia Alexander Tieman “watch a couple of talks in free time or during a break” on www. TED.com. Already in 2012
Rudi Dieleman (PectCof) ex-
plains how to reduce the waste of the coffee production chain by extracting pectin from coffee cherries. Pectin is a gelling agent, usually extracted from citrus fruits and used in food and pharmaceutical industry. view: Pectin from coffee pulp the site reached 17 views per second. Great example is a talk from 2009 by Prof. dr. ir. Louise O. Fresco, currently President of the Board at Wageningen University, defending the need of science to produce the food to feed the world: click to view
board
New President: Wietse Mutters In April 2014 Arjen Reijnierse returned to the Netherlands to continue his career at Heineken in Amsterdam. In accordance with article 27 of the bylaws of NL Chamber, the Board has appointed Wietse Mutters as President until the next regular General Assembly. Nigeria, Réunion
NL Chamber President Wietse Mutters
Mutters (32) is the successor of Reijnierse as Commer cial Dire ctor on behalf of
Heineken at Pivara Skopje. Prior to his current position, Mutters was National Trade Marketing Manager at Nigerian Brewe ries, a Heineken subsi diary in Lagos, Nigeria. His career started already in his student days with an intern ship at Brasseries de Bourbon, Heineken’s subsidiary at the French island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean. Mutters is married and has a daughter. president@nlchamber.org.mk
photos: screenshot TED.com, Wietse Mutters
Following the departure of Arjen Reijnierse, the Board of NL Chamber appointed his successor at Pivara, Wietse Mutters as new President until the next General Assembly.
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newsletter no. 5 / September 2014
network
Introducing new Macedonian Ambassador Igor Popov On 7 May Ambassador Igor Popov presented his credentials to King Willem Alexander. Two weeks later NL Chamber met the ambassador at Schermerwijn in Hoorn. Wijnkopers & Distillateurs for a visit to the region of WestFriesland. Blom also invited NL Chamber director Bob Smit to join when they met at the private label fair PLMA in Amsterdam just the day before.
Following the 4.5 year mandate of Nikola Dimitrov, the new ambassador of Macedonia to the Netherlands is Igor Popov. On 7 May Popov pre sented his credentials to King Willem Alexander at Palace Noordeinde in The Hague. The previous post of Popov was Ljubljana, where he was ambassador since 2011. Schermer Wijnkopers Igor Popov was invited by Paul Robert Blom of Schermer
Stobi Winery After a tour through the newly extended production facility and warehouse of Schermer Wijnkopers, lunch was served with a glass of Aminta, a blend of Vranec, Merlot and Cabertnet Sauvignon by Stobi Winery from Gradsko, Macedonia.
Next to wines and spirits from various countries, Schermer Wijnkopers imports Stobi and Popova Kula wines, Traikovsky rakija and mastika as well as Hina ajvar. continued on p.9
Schermer Wijnkopers was esta blished as a jenever distillery in 1782 in Hoorn, some 40 km north of Amsterdam. In 2002 the company was awarded the desig nation “Purveyor to the Court”. Paul Robert Blom started working at Schermer Wijnkopers in 1965 and extended the wine trade business with wines from “the new old world”, as Blom refers to wines from the Balkans. After 6 generations of Schermer family members, Blom continued the family company under his family in 1982. Blom is Registered Wine Apprai ser & Broker and a much respec ted advocate of the Balkan wines.
Schermer Wijnkopers Geldelozeweg 47 1625 NW Hoorn The Netherlands t +31 229 217777 f +31 229 218765 e info@schermerwijn.nl w www.schermerwijn.nl www.fb.com/schermerwijn twitter.com/schermerwijn
From left to right, first row: Paul Robert Blom, Ambassador Igor Popov, Esther Ophoff-Blom. Second row: Aart Ruppert, Bob Smit, Tanja Philipse-Blom, Nancy Boterblom
Embassy of Macedonia in The Hague Ambassador: H.E. Igor Popov Laan van Meerdervoort 50c 2517 AM The Hague - Netherlands
t: +31 70 4274464 f: +31 70 4274469 e: hague@mfa.gov.mk w: www.missions.gov.mk/hague
photos: MFA, Nancy Boterblom, NL Chamber, Historisch Genootschap Oud West-Friesland
King Willem Alexander receives credentials Ambassador Igor P opov
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Seed Valley: global leader Blom also scheduled a visit to Clusius College in Hoorn where students are educated in plant breeding in the laboratory and the greenhouse. Programme manager biotechnology Nancy Boterblom guided the delegation through the seed laboratory. Clusius College is closely cooperating with companies in the region in the seed sector and would also like to establish
www.clusius.nl
Former alderman of the munici pality of Hoorn, Aart Ruppert, explained why a cluster of 35 companies in plant seed business and other stakeholders join forces for further strengthe ning this key sector through the Foundation Seed Valley. “Our region accommodates five of the world’s lar gest seed impro ving companies, which implies a major influence on regional economic development,” Ruppert said. “Seed Valley” is not an understatement: 50 to 60% of all the vegetables being cultiva ted around globe, genetically originate from Northern Holland: that is global leadership.
www.iribov.com
Iribov SBW The afternoon was reserved for a visit to one of the partners in Seed Valley: Iribov SBW in Heerhugowaard. Michiel van Bennekom and Martijn Heddes welcomed the delegation at Iribov, a laboratory for plant tissue culture services and analyses. laboratory Vinica With the take-over of branch companion SBW from Roelof arendsveen in 2011, Iribov became owner of two production laboratories: one in Ghana and one in Vinica, Macedonia. The latter was established in 2001 and is still known as SBW Romero Vitro. Van Benne kom is regularly flying to Macedonia: “In Vinica we employ 180 people for large scale multiplication of plant tissue cultures. It is a hospitable country and I love the good food!”
www.seedvalley.nl
photos: Nancy Boterblom, NL Chamber
student exchanges with Mace donian partners.
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Sponsors of Foundation NL Chamber
www.nlembassy.org.mk
www.pivaraskopje.com.mk
www.boekestijntransport.com 10
newsletter no. 5 / September 2014
members
Koro organic herbal tea on Dutch shelves Nine months after a meeting in Amsterdam arranged by NL Chamber, Konimeks started exporting its full range of organic herbal tea to the Netherlands. By the end of May 2013, Viktor Kolovski, CEO of Konimeks from Skopje, made a lastminute visit to the Netherlands for the fair PLMA in Amsterdam. Additionally, NL Chamber arranged for a meeting with a potential importer. Meanwhile that meeting has lead to the export of the entire line of organic teas under Koni meks’ Koro brand. Konimeks arranged for Dutch-language packaging and since March 2014 the tea is sold through a health food retail chain. Koni meks is also active in herbs, spices and essential oils.
Koro tea promoted at Amsterdam Central Station branch.
members
New member: Nido Global Textile, table cover producer New to NL Chamber’s network is the Macedonian subsidiary of Dutch Dena Textile at Work, supplier of coverings for horeca furniture.
nearshoring Where nearshoring is gai ning interest as an alternative to outsourcing production in the Far East, also Dena Textile started searching for opportunities closer to the European market. After a short period of production in a joint-venture with a Macedonian partner, Dena now runs its own opera tion in Skopje. From Macedonia Dena supplies Western European bars, restaurants, hotels, caterers and event
orga nizers through European wholesalers, including the German Metro Gruppe, active in the Netherlands as Makro. Dena Textile at Work
Nudepark 142 6702 DX Wageningen The Netherlands
e: info@dena-textile.com w: www.dena-textile.com fb.com/DenaTextile twitter.com/denatextile linkedin.com/..textile-at-work
photos: NL Chamber, Dena Textile at Work
Nido Global Textile was recently established in Skopje as a subsidiary of Dutch Dena Textile at Work. The company employs some 65 people for the production of a wide range of covers for chairs and various types of tables as well as table and stage skirtings.
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newsletter no. 5 / September 2014
members
InterWorks celebrates 10 years With a celebration at restaurant Belvedere, InterWorks marked the tenth a nniversary of the existence of the IT system integrator from Bitola. On 19 March general manager Aleksandar Pop Ristov and business partner Aleksandar Memca celebrated the 10 years anniversary of InterWorks in Bitola. Interworks is an IT company employing 60
specialists in system integration with a.o. these services: • • • • • • • • •
Service Oriented Architecture TIBCO, BEA/Oracle, IBM Business Process Management TIBCO, BEA/Oracle, IBM Complex Event Processing TIBCO Master Data Management TIBCO, Oracle, IBM Content Management Sharepoint, Alfresco Software Development JEE, .NET/C# Web Applications Development JEE, ASP.NET Application Support/Maintenance Enterprise Application I ntegration
InterWorks DOOEL
Karpos b.b. (dir. Granit) 7000 Bitola Republic of Macedonia
t: +389 47 221914 f: +389 47 240010 e: interworks@interworks.com.mk w: www.interworks.com.mk fb.com/interworksmk linkedin.com/../interworks
members
Holmak HeatX moved into new facility in Staphorst The parent company of Holmak in Bitola, part of Brink Climate systems, moved into a new building with factory, warehousing and offices.
director Mark Lammers and Brink Climate Systems CFO Anton Hans in the old premises in Staphorst. living green wall Production and assembly had already moved, whereas the offices would follow a few weeks later. Various modern sustainability standards were applied in the new building that also includes a living green wall in the entrance hall.
Holmak HeatX BV - Staphorst Holmak DOOEL - Bitola e: info@holmak.eu w: www.holmak.eu linkedin.com/...heatx
photos: InterWorks, NL Chamber
Directly along highway A28 in Staphorst, in the eastern part of the Netherlands is the impressive new building of Brink Climate Systems, also the new home of Holmak HeatX, which operates a production facility in Bitola, Macedonia. On 8 July NL Chamber director Bob Smit met with Holmak
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members
New member: Tehnokoop, now also known as TK-meubels Furniture producer Tehnokoop decided to open a showroom for sofas in the Netherlands under the brand TK-meubels, reason for Tehnokoop to join NL Chamber. In the Dutch furniture business the town of Nieuwegein, close to Utrecht, is known for its business-to-business interior trade centre HTC, currently re-branding to De Woonindustrie. Tehnokoop has signed a contract for renting a showroom for sofas that Tehno koop produces in its factory in Skopje. autumn trade fair On 15 September, the first day of the autumn trade fair at this centre, Tehnokoop will
catalogue (pdf):
nl.mk/TK-meubels
De Woonindustrie At the autumn trade fair, the former Home Trade Center (HTC) re-opens under its new
name: De Woonindustrie. The interior showroom complex has undergone a complete metamorphosis to a contemporary inspiration centre for interior decoration on a total surface of 40,000 sqm. After the fair, De Woonindustrie is also opened for consumers: Mondays from 10h00-17h00.
Tehnokoop DOO
Bul. Boris Trajkovski 95a 1000 Skopje Republic of Macedonia
t: +389 2 2763262 f: +389 2 3165518 e: tehnokoop@tehnokoop.com.mk w: www.tehnokoop.com.mk showroom
De Woonindustrie 2B068b Symfonielaan 1 3438 EW Nieuwegein The Netherlands
m: +31 6 23900875 e: contact@tk-meubels.nl w: www.tk-meubels.nl fb.com/Tehnokoop youtube.com/user/Tehnokoop
photos: Tehnokoop, De Woonindustrie
open showroom 2B068b under the brand TK-meubels. Next to sales of sofas, Tehnokoop will also focus on offering custommade design and production of kitchens.
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members
New member: Vitezis, producer of slings and slide sheets With the move into the brand-new facility for the production of slings and slide sheets in Stip, Dutch-owned Vitezis joined the network of NL Chamber. Vitezis was established in 2009 by Wim Vinken, a Dutchman active in trade, engineering and service of sewing equipment. He had been in contact with a Swedish multinational in medical equipment, having their European warehouse close to Eindhoven and some 50 km from Vinken’s company. Arjo Huntleigh was interested in a new producer of slings for handling of disabled and/or heavy patients in a hoist. Vinken started to sew these slings - series and custommade - in Stip in rented premi ses. 80% of the final custo mers are American health care organizations, which requires the highest standards in production. With the production of a new innovation, slide sheets to further ease patient hand ling in hospital beds, Vinken invested in a new and larger production facility in the Industrial Zone North in Stip, supported by the Dutch govern mental programme PSI.
Adrijana Kazandziska and Dragana Kazandziska-Taseva with a sling in front of the new production facility in Stip.
first sling testing for 272 kg
packed slide sheet
www.arjohuntleigh.com
members
Pivara Skopje introduced Amstel Premium Pilsener Early April, when the national media were occupied with presidential and parliamentary elections, Pivara Skopje launched a new beer on the Macedonian market: Amstel Premium Pilsener, brewed according to the original recipe from 1870. Pivara Skopje invested over 600,000 EUR to comply with the requirements of the world’s fifth strongest beer brand.
photos: NL Chamber
Following significant investments to comply with the highest standards of the global beer brand, Pivara Skopje became the proud producer of Amstel Premium Pilsener.
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members
Dutch architects exploring Macedonian quarries Natuurgevelsteen brought a delegation of architects to Macedonia to show them the quarries that supply Natuurgevelsteen with natural stone for facades. From 10 to 15 April the Dutch entrepreneurs of Natuurgevelsteen BV organized a mission to Macedonia for a group of 26 participants, mainly architects. Objective of this mission was to inspire the participants and stimulate them to apply the pure, rough look and feel of natural stone in their designs. New building for Ambiq in Hoogeveen, an institute for remedial education. The entire facade is covered with natural stone from the Velmej quarry.
Kriva Palanka, towards the Bulgarian border and the other near the village of Velmej, on the road to Ohrid. villa Bloemendaal
e: info@natuurgevelsteen.nl w: www.natuurgevelsteen.nl fb.com/natuurgevelsteen twitter.com/ngs_bv linkedin.com/...gevelsteen-bv youtube.com/...gevelsteen
Delegation at the quarry of Velmej
Villa di Leva, Bloemendaal
Wine-tasting and farewell dinner took place at Skovin Winery in Skopje
photos: Natuurgevelsteen, NL Chamber
The delegation was received at the Netherlands Embassy by Deputy Head of Mission Peter Verheyen and NL Chamber director Bob Smit on Friday afternoon. The weekend was reserved for visits to two quarries in remote areas: one near
The Kriva Palanka quarry provided the stone for a villa in Bloemendaal, whereas the Velmej quarry supplied the entire facade of the Ambiq institute in Hoogeveen. The delegation was also guided around in Skopje, Ohrid and Krushevo. On the evening before departure, Skovin Winery in Skopje organized a wine-tasting and farewell dinner.
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members
Vitalia opened a webshop The webshop of health food producer Vitalia got 20 customers on the first day. On 16 September Health Food producer Vitalia launched a webshop for the home market. Although online shopping in Macedonia is still in its early stages of development, Vitalia received no less than 20 orders on the very first day, likely due to the fact that Vita-
lia has a very strong marketing machine, serving over 49,000 followers on Facebook. Payments are done with Visa or Master creditcards or debit cards and timely delivery is organized through GLS (Globko Logistics) from Skopje. shop.vitalia.com.mk
service
PLMA: support by Invest in Macedonia requested Following again an edition of PLMA with exhibitors from Macedonia, NL Chamber proposed the Macedonian trade promotion agency to support a country pavilion in 2015. Like in 2013, also this year Macedonian companies exhibi ted at the trade fair World of Private Label in Amsterdam, often referred to as PLMA, after the organizing Private Label Manufacturers Association. country pavilion Since countries from all over the world establish country pavilions at PLMA, NL Chamber presented the fair to the Mace
donian Agency for Foreign Invest ments and Export Promotion. A decision on the Agency’s support to participate in the 2015 edition of PLMA was announced for the end of August, but has been postponed until the end of October, which is likely too late to obtain a proper spot at this highly popular trade fair. www.plmainternational.com
Vitalia stand at private label fair PLMA, May 2014 in Amsterdam
photo: NL Chamber
Brochure on World of Private Label trade fair in Amsterdam and its value for Macedonian exhibitors. Next edition: 19-20 May 2015. Download the brochure below at: nl.mk/PLMA-brochure
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a second generation biomass plant. After seven years of research in the field of enzyme and yeast technologies, the plant is ready to convert corn residue into 20 million gallons of ethanol. The plant was opened on 3 September by King Willem Alexander. view: youtu.be/1KztGncgTKM
short
Kings’ Day
Following the abdication of Queen Beatrix last year, King Willem Alexander decided that Kings’ Day will be celebrated on 27 April. In Skopje, the Netherlands Embassy invited her guests to a performance by Dutch Introdans at the new National Theater. source: www.introdans.nl
Schuurman next NATO Special Representative
Urban wind turbine
End of May at the Innovation Dock of Rotterdam RDM Campus, the Liam F1 was launched. The Dutch company The Archimedes BV has been working on this small and highly efficient wind turbine since 2006. With a diameter of only 1.5 m. and a weight of only 100 kg., the turbine is very suitable for urban areas. At a windspeed of 4.5 m/s, one turbine provides half of a households electricity need: up to 2.500 kW a year.
During the coming weeks Marriët Schuurman will leave her post as Netherlands Ambassador to Macedonia to become NATO’s Special Representative for Women, Peace and Security. Who will be her successor in Skopje is yet unknown. www.nato.int
Bulk Wine fair
The sixth World Bulk Wine Exhibition is taking place on 24 and 25 November in Amsterdam. www.worldbulkwine.com
Eindhoven-Skopje on Wednesday and Sunday
Per 1 April 2015 Wizzair will fly from Eindhoven to Skopje on Wednesdays and Sundays in the afternoon.
www.thearchimedes.com
Packaging from tomato leaves
Researchers at Wageningen University succeeded to produce tomato boxes out of pulp from leaves and stems of tomato plants. www.wageningenur.nl
www.wizzair.com
The new sche dule shows the following times on Wednesdays and Sundays and is valid until 21 October: EIN 15h10 SKP 17h50 SKP 11h50 EIN 14h40
Project Liberty
Dutch DSM opened one of the world’s first cellulosic ethanol production facilities in the US,
Dutch-Macedonian trade statistics
The latest statistics on DutchMacedonian trade are always available at: nl.mk/NLC-stat 17
newsletter no. 5 / September 2014
short
Calendar of Trade Fairs Selection of upcoming trade fairs. Selection of trade fairs in the Netherlands and Macedonia. NB: All blue text is clickable! The Netherlands Major trade fairs take place at: Jaarbeurs, Utrecht 99,000 sqm, 13 halls www.jaarbeurs.nl
RAI, Amsterdam 87,000 sqm, 11 halls www.rai.nl
Ahoy, Rotterdam 30,000 sqm, 6 halls www.ahoy.nl
Regional locations for trade fairs: Brabanthallen, ‘s-Hertogenb.
29,500 sqm, 6 halls IJsselhallen, Zwolle 17,000 sqm, 4 halls MECC, Maastricht 29,500 sqm, 4 halls
Most fairs in the Netherlands have entrance fees and offer discounts for early registration online. Please do not hesitate to contact NL Chamber when you plan to visit a fair in the Netherlands. Macedonia Major trade fairs take place at: Skopje Fair, Skopje 16.000 sqm, 6 halls
www.skopjefair.com.mk
photo impressions of the fairs: www.fb.com/SkopjeFair/
Entrance tickets can only be purchased at the spot; online registration is not possible. Please do not hesitate to contact NL Chamber when you plan to visit a fair in Macedonia.
The Netherlands 30.09.2014- 03.10.2014 07-09.10.2014 11-13.11.2014 04.12.2014 12-15.01.2015 12-15.01.2015 13-18.01.2015 14-16.01.2015 21-22.01.2015 25-26.01.2015 09-13.02.2015 10-12.02.2015 17-19.03.2015 15-16.04.2015 19-20.05.2015 30.09.2015- 01.10.2015 15-18.03.2016 14-16.06.2016
World of Technology&Science, Jaarbeurs - Utrecht Industrial Dairy Show, Jaarbeurs - Utrecht Macropak, Jaarbeurs - Utrecht Industrial Processing, Jaarbeurs - Utrecht 338 exhibitors; automation, electronics, laboratory; dairy industry technology; packaging Energie, Brabanthallen - ‘s-Hertogenbosch energy, solar, passive building, sustainability. Transport & Logistics, Ahoy - Rotterdam 02Healt & Natural Ingredients, RAI - Amsterdam 230 exhibitors; health ingredients, natural ingredients Horecava and Wine Professional, RAI - Amsterdam 400 food service exhibitors; 100 wine exhibitors Ethnic Foods Europe, RAI - Amsterdam Dutch Tourism Expo, Jaarbeurs - Utrecht 850 exhibitors; first day for professional visitors only Vakbeurs Facilitair, Brabanthallen - ‘s-Hertogenbosch products and services involved in facility management i.e. maintenance, cleaning, catering, ict, reception etc. Biovak, IJsselhallen - Zwolle 350 exhibitors in the sustainable organic food chain Modefabriek, RAI - Amsterdam sales exhibition of the major fashion brands Gevel and Material Xperience, Jaarbeurs - Utrecht products and technology for facade construction materials expo for architects, creative professionals Interior Innovations, Jaarbeurs - Utrecht new event for interior design, products and concepts BouwBeurs, Jaarbeurs - Utrecht bi-annual construction industry fair Integrated Systems Europe, RAI - Amsterdam integrated electronic systems: audio, video, lighting StocExpo, Ahoy - Rotterdam 180 exhibitors: pums, valves, pipes, tanks and related Empack, Brabanthallen - ‘s-Hertogenbosch packaging materials, machines, coding, labelling etc. World Private Label / PLMA, RAI - Amsterdam european private label producers in food and non-food 3,800 exhibitors, 68 countries, 42 regional pavilions Pumps & Valves, Ahoy - Rotterdam pumping equipment and industrial components ESEF, Jaarbeurs - Utrecht engineering and subcontracting GreenTech, RAI - Amsterdam 200 exhibitors in horticulture and floriculture industry
Macedonia Note: All mentioned fairs in Macedonia are organized by the same organizer and at the same place. Fair websites do not offer further info. 14-18.10.2014 05-08.11.2014
Tehnoma Fair metallurgy, electronics, non-metals, security AgroFood Fair food and beverages 18