#HOTCS: Christopher Wimmer, Istanbul

“When I was posted to Argentina, I was responsible for building the TCS network in Paraguay, which we also covered from Buenos Aires. I was starting from the bottom, making a plan and connecting with high level decision-makers in the country to develop a circle of influence and raise awareness about Canadian companies. Whereas some other countries either use their development agencies, or they’ll even gift a country an entire development project in order to gain access to a tender, we don’t play that game. As Trade Commissioners, we approach things very ethically and transparently, including building relationships with local key players. We do everything based on the merit of Canadian capabilities and our reputation, so it’s challenging to build these relationships from square one when other countries aren’t playing by the same rules. And I was competing against the fact that many Paraguayans had no idea what we have to offer, as well. So I brought them to Canada to see our capabilities. When they actually got to come and see, they were so impressed that it ended up creating interest in other sectors that we hadn’t even thought of at that point in time, like green building.”