International Trade committee  Thank you. All the best to Ottawa.

International Trade committee  There are so many products all over Europe that we could successfully, especially since your opening with CETA, distribute in Canada. Again, I think the best way, if you want to meet these people and get a feeling for their products, is to go to one of the big trade fairs. I m

International Trade committee  We represent Messe Düsseldorf. This is one of Germany's largest trade fairs here, but you can also go to Messe Cologne or to Messe Munich, Hamburg, or Berlin, and they have plenty of excellent trade fairs there. We can give Canadian companies and Canadian individuals some ideas

International Trade committee  I think they have quality similar to those in Europe, for example, in France. I buy a lot of Canadian cheese because I love it. It's great cheese. It's a little bit expensive, by the way, but....

International Trade committee  I would think it's similar and vice versa. When German companies come to Canada, the technical standards are a big issue in both directions. As I mentioned before, there are some small and medium-sized companies that told me they were not selling to Canada because it costs them t

International Trade committee  This is my honest opinion. Canada has a huge bonus in Europe. Canada is a country that they really love in Europe, so I can only say to Canadians to stay as you are. You will find a lot of open doors if you have good products and make it easier. Germans are a little bit more dire

International Trade committee  Again, I think the Canadian government does quite a bit for their companies in helping them get to other markets. What I would suggest is, why don't we do some seminars or something here in Canada, in Toronto or Montreal, let's say, or wherever, to really help them with experts a

International Trade committee  I'm from a country where it doesn't matter whether you are in Munich or in Hamburg. It's all the same. If you are an engineer, you are an engineer, and it's recognized all over the country. Germany has a very interesting education system. It's called the dual system. You might

International Trade committee  Again, we have some business delegations coming to Canada. We have good staff who work all the time on matching the German businesses and the Canadian businesses. We created a database for that, with 50 possible Canadian candidates. We then call them and ask them if they would be

International Trade committee  You bet.

International Trade committee  We are in Montreal once a month. We do a lot of business with Quebec, Alberta, B.C., Nova Scotia—with all the provinces. We have projects there and we have business partners there. We usually work together very closely with the respective provincial governments, with associations

International Trade committee  As far as I know, I don't think we have special incentives for women entering international trade. In Germany I think we have many women who are already owners of a company, so probably the government does something in that respect. I don't know about any special programs, but

International Trade committee  Have a look at our office—and here; four-fifths are women.

International Trade committee  This is the wrong picture here.

International Trade committee  Again, the technical standards are one thing I mentioned. That will go on for some time, I think. There are legal issues and tax issues. These are things they don't understand. Let's say they come from a German background. They have a totally different legal system in Germany ver