The Travel Monologues
Wherein Three Countries are Sampled Waaay South of the Border

Mike Violette & Desmond Fraser

Prologue

Mi amigo,

The preparations began in the dead of winter. For most of January, it was a faux winter, a tame, even meek, season with seventy degree days in Washington DC and blooms and buds making an early appearance. Were they going to be in for it, for when February came for real, winter slipped in a good punch to the midsection and made one dream of the mildness that passed like the memory of June honeysuckle. One remedy? Head south where it was summer. Dip below the Tropic of Cancer to warm, sunnier climes.

Three countries, the “ABC” Tour: Argentina, Brazil and Chile. Don’t know too much about them, except that the tango’s from one, the Andes are in another and caiparenhas can be found in the third (more about that later). Hence this trip; let’s go see what’s going on in South America. With much of the attention in the popular press on Venezuela and the, er, character running the show there, the other three countries don’t get a lot of coverage in the Northern hemisphere. However, ignorance is no excuse for failing to stir up opportunity, so in the middle of the freezin’ teens in Virginia, plane tickets were purchased, hotels arranged, and a futile attempt made at stuffing some Spanish phrases into my head.

Ah yes, the beautiful Spanish Language, lingua franca of most of SA (with the exception of Brazil, which is Portuguese-speaking). It just might be possible to learn a little, but immersion is the key to gaining any facility and, in spite of the multi-lingual area that is Washington DC, general laziness presides in the place of learning. But, since Spanish is one of the romance languages, maybe my broken and rarely-used high school French might just come in handy. Frankly, I am not too optimistic. In the meantime, we’ll be relying on the good hosting of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) and their agents on the ground in Santiago, Buenos Aires and Sao Paulo. Embarking on this particular tour are nineteen Americans. Departing Washington on the St. Patrick’s day and passing through Sao Paulo on our way to Santiago.

Visas are necessary for Brazil. Argentina doesn’t require anything and Chile will give a visa at the border for a hundred bucks. Rather, it’s called a “reciprocity fee,” a nice euphemism for “Hey US, we can’t come there without a visa, well, here’s our reply.” Fair enough…

The Epic of Latin America by James Crow provides some useful historical background. If I had one book I needed to get a pretty complete story of South America, this would do it. From the Native Indians to the present day, the story of conquest, resistance, domination, colonization, freedom and other pangs that one might expect when mixing peoples from Europe, Africa and South America.

Why this trip?

From a testing perspective, there are sort of tiers of engagement. It all follows the size of the market(s). For example, the US, being such a large consumer of electronics products, with an insatiable appetite for gadgetry from Asia and a fairly rigorously-defined regulatory structure, is a prime reason for developing a testing and certification presence. This testing is performed in the places where the products are developed and the type of work depends on the type of industries & products there (naturally). So China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea and the emerging markets in Asia are locations for a fairly sophisticated testing infrastructure, with much of the testing geared toward the consumer industry. We’ve looked at these markets and some of the cultural nuances the last time we wrote to you. In Europe, the testing activities are akin to the US: sophisticated specialized products and systems. In the US, the testing market deals with more specialized devices, aerospace, military, industrial process.

Because of this, I don’t care what you say about it, the US won’t “fall behind” the rest of the world. That’s because the US is the developer of innovation. This is especially true of the various derivative types of businesses that evolve when a country’s sophistication increases. The shift of manufacturing to cheaper labor markets is a natural, inexorable effect of an increasingly sophisticated culture/market. The growth of services is a natural extension of that. Witness China, where the growth of manufacturing (still expanding) has given rise to a whole host of service industries (law, regulatory, insurance) that didn’t exist 10 years ago.

In South America, we’re not quite sure what the market is. So that’s why this trip. And it’s part of our “four corners” strategy, if you will. US, Asia, Europe, South America. Only by going can you really start to develop an understanding of the extent of the business and other exploratory aspects of these areas of the globe. Hopefully, there will be something to report that may be of interest to you. We’re here to try anyway.

Come on along!

The Travel Monologues
Wherein Three Countries are Sampled Waaay South of the Border

Mike Violette & Desmond Fraser

[March 18, 2007]

We leave on March 17, 2007: No way to spend St. Patrick’s Day, crammed in bulkhead seat on the downhill run to Sao Paulo. I’ll have to ask my dear mother’s forgiveness for having a Scotch instead of an Irish whiskey (no Jameson’s on the plane, ma). But no matter, this leg of the journey is not unpleasant: an overnight flight to SP and onto Santiago Chile—at least there won’t be a time zone hangover, not like jetting to Asia and the temporal inversion of a 12 hour time shift.

The waiting area in Dulles was swarming with young ladies in red warmup jackets. The group of forty were heading to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to participate in a soccer-seeding tourney, part of the Olympic qualifications regimen. They are a mix of high school qualifiers from the Midwest making their way South. Aside from the usual wall-to-wall travelers and logistics of getting all these people off the ground, complicated by the effect of the previous day’s sleet and “wintry mix”, the departure was smooth and the red jackets all found places to sit. They continued to talk to each other, via cell phone, until the very last minute as the cabin door was closed. “I’m up in the left, in the front, seat 15A. Oh, I see you back there! Who are you sitting next to? Jess? Omigod, I hope she doesn’t talk talk talk all night. Me? Some old guy. He’s just reading a book. No, not too smelly, but I think he may have been drinking.” 

As I mentioned, the first leg of the journey is to Santiago, Chile. Chile is a narrow slice of the Andes and the Pacific coast that stretches from Peru (about mid-continent) down to the bottom of the landmass of South America, stopping just shy of Tierra del Fuego (Land of Fire, by Ferdinand Magellan), which is part of Argentina, Chile’s next door neighbor. Santiago was founded by the Spanish Conquistador Pedro de Valdivia, who established the first settlement there in the early 1500s and governed the colony, overseeing a brutal survival story. This whole area, which was populated by a mix of native cultures and Amerindians prior to the Spaniards’ arrival in the early 1500s, was referred to the Rio de la Plata or “River of Silver.” Much of the history of South America is woven with the passionate and fervent mixture of labor on behalf of God and Gold: Christianizing the natives and filling Spain and Portugal’s coffers with wealth.

Flying into Santiago from Sao Paulo, one crosses over Argentina and above the vast pampas where gauchos made their living, herding cattle and developing highly refined horsemanship and a distinctive culture. Machismo at its pinnacle. We’ll explore a small slice of Argentinian culture and pride when we route back to Buenos Aires.

Las Pampas from 36,000 feet 

Devaldivia, who was working under the auspices of the Spanish authority based in Peru, held the colony together long enough for it to get a foothold, and it was a tenuous foothold for many years. After some years of governing the city with a fairly iron hand Pedro had a change of heart and offered to anyone who would take it, the chance to return for Spain. So after 18 years or so, he allowed a number of the landowners to liquidate their property, collect their accumulated wealth and return to Spain. Several of the settlers took him up on his offer and they did just that—almost. Devaldivia accompanied the returning group to the coast and helped them load their wealth onto a waiting ship. To show that bygones were bygones, he feted the group with a farewell dinner on the beach. While his colleagues were feasting, Devaldivia slipped away and hopped into a rowboat. With the frantic group of former landowners vainly trying to follow him through the surf, he headed to the ship, weighed anchor and left them to despair on the beach. Our course, who really knows what happened. Nevertheless, Devaldivia is reckoned to the founder of Chile, the George Washington of his Time.

Crossing into Chile, one crests the foothills of the Andes. Santiago is situated in a valley in the middle of the Andes, between dual spines of the mountain chain.

A Glacier 

Finally, we make it and pay our $200 to enter the country. Get a cab and get taken to the wrong hotel. Ah well, a corrective ride is only a few bucks more.

Santiago Cityscape

We’ll find out more tomorrow when our hosts, the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) commence our visits. During this time we meet the Chilean equivalent of the US FCC, unravel a bit of the testing laboratory climate and have a lunch of sea urchins (oh, it’s like an oyster soaked in iodine…one of those “acquired tastes”). Oh, and did I forget about a small soliloquy on Chilean grape products? Notable are the Malbec wines and something called a “Pisco Sour”—a must-have if you come to Chile.

And let’s not forget about ubiquitous “Norte American” institutions…never too far away…even if you’re 10,000 miles away… 

The Travel Monologues
Wherein Three Countries are Sampled Waaay South of the Border

Mike Violette & Desmond Fraser

[March 19-22]: Santiago Chile

Put your track shoes on if you come down here because there is plenty of ground to cover. Chile, after all, is about 2700 miles from north-to-south, from tip-to-tip. After what seems like too brief a sleep, the phone rings its jarring wake up and the eyes lead the body in reluctant revelie. Fortunately, there is no jet lag to contend with as Santiago is in the same time zone as Washington being six degrees of latitude EAST of home. In fact, if you spin that old globe we have (you know, the one that lights up from the inside when you plug it in—I think it’s under the stairs) you’ll see that 99% of South America is east of DC. So at least our diurnal clocks don’t need any adjusting; the minor excesses of last evening’s decompression at the piano bar with the VEDP delegation, however, are another matter.

Before we get much into the real reason we’re here, I mentioned “pisco sours” the last time we corresponded. Pisco Sours are a local concoction of lemon, sugar and ‘pisco’, which is a distillation from grapes and the closest alignment I could offer by comparison would be a brandy…a light brandy, at that and, depending on one’s pocketbook and consumption habits, the quality could vary from eliciting “Fine, delicate, aromatic and complex balance of teak and rose that delights the nose” to “WARNING: Do not take internally. Hazmat warning and MSDS data sheets must be posted at all times.” We chose the former; the blend of ingredients—shaken, not stirred—are served up in mini-flutes which have been iced down with a few cubes (just to cool the glass). The color is a milky white and I must have been too engaged to have taken a picture of one. I’ll make up a batch when we get together and you’ll see for yourself. Closest I have is the pisco solimento in the next picture, adjacent to the pickled papaya.

The first meeting with our fellow delegates is all business (that is why we’re here) and we are handed our schedules with stern, but pleasant admonitions from our hosts. There are seven companies in this group with an interesting array of “Made in Virginia” pedigrees: a supplier of medical products, an industrial textiles manufacturer, an emergency shelter company, an aluminum cylinder manufacturer, an uninterruptible power supply manufacturer, an aircraft parts supplier and us.

We are the only service provider per se and whereas most of our colleagues are interested in setting up distributorships to ship their products to  Chile (and the rest of South America), we are looking to scope out the market for certification services, develop liaisons and sniff out ways to expand our network. To a person, each member of the group brings along a sense of adventure. Not a whiner in the bunch, which is important when plunging into the developing world…although that is not a quite fair description to use when describing Santiago which has some of the finest, cleanest and cosmopolitan urban environs I’ve experienced. Here, in the tree-lined streets and along busy traffic corridors one could imagine being in the best of New York, Paris, Shanghai, Washington or any other large city.

We are informed that—not to worry—Chile has near-daily minor earthquakes (temblores) which we are assured are harmless. For over 30 years, Chile has had strict building codes to protect the edificios or large buildings: part of the design of any building is an extensive, deep steel and concrete foundation that stretches many stories underground to counter the moment of any shaking in the above-ground part. It’s really no wonder that there is near-constant seismic activity, as witnessed in the flight over and the synclination of the Andes as activity in the Chile ridge as tectonics plates mash against each other. This is evidenced by the striated mountains thrust severely skyward in the ring of mountains surrounding Santiago.

From the Radisson, we disembark the hotel to our meetings after getting our marching orders from Andre and Jaap (pro. “yap”), the congenial VEDP folks who have set up a series of back-to-back meetings with local Certification interests. Our first stop is the Santiago Chamber of Commerce where we meet Signora Blanca Barros Vial, our translator who is a delight to work with—not only because of her much needed language support, but as a commentator on Chilean culture, a perspective on political and economic history, observations on practical matters and adviser on lapus lazuli—no, it’s not a religion nor an exotic dance and yes, I did bring some back (but it’s not contagious).

We overlook Cerro Santa Lucia from the top stories of the CofC in the center of Santiago, a high point named by Pedro de Valdivia, founder of Santiago. We’ll circle Santa Lucia a few times in the next few days, but never mount.

A primer on Chile, as provided by the CofC representative Carmen. There are 16+ million Chilean souls in the country, which is governed by La Presidente Michelle Bachelet, a medical doctor and the first women president of Chile. The political system is modeled on the US with a bicameral legislature and an independent judicial branch. For more on the complicated and sometime brutal Chilean political history (particularly the recent past), consult other sources as there are more learned and lucid places to find out what happened in Chile. That sort of discussion (while fascinating because it embodies the tumultuous South American political and socio-economic story struggle and survival: a history and culture shaped by ambition, conquest, colonialism, repression, rebellion and authoritarian control—common themes both above and below the equator) is left to more qualified others. Us? We’re more like fans at a baseball park on any given pleasant late spring day describing the dance of the athletes on the field and the behavior of the fans in the stands, not learned nor qualified sufficiently to explain the intricacies of the “infield fly rule” or “earned run average.” (Before you jump in here, I am not immune to the fact that football (soccer) is the national pastime south of the Rio Grande.) Maybe on a later occasion we can share some ideas about more weighty matters of politics and society.

Here in Chile, we are told, growth in international trade has been steady and due in large part to a reduction in international tariff rates. Chile has numerous Free Trade Agreements with countries such as China, Mexico, Singapore, and Panama (hurriedly scribbling, I am sorry that I didn’t catch them all, so my apologies to whole countries out there). Chile’s economy is based largely on mining of copper and iron, which maybe explains the presence of the lakes of green goo I spotted from outside the window of the plane on the ride in. At any rate, the he government policies of opening and engaging globally is stated several times in the next few days, both during our visits with potential associates and by none other than a representative of the telecommunications ministry.

A particularly unique and fascinating aspect of the Chilean society, from economics and personal privacy points-of-view, is the access that a national system (on the internet) allows one to research bad credit rating baggage that individuals may carry about. All you need is the individual’s “RUT” number, (the equivalent of a SSN in the US). Truly, it is astonishing that all citizens have entries in a public database that show their unpaid bills and outstanding debts, going back some number of years. No special access or permissions are needed to view this information. Now, this could be a good tool if you’re looking for potential partners (are they deadbeats?) or it could be viewed as a huge negation of personal privacy rights that, if ever implemented in the US, would have lawyers swarming like maggots on road-kill.

Some of the stated economic policies include increases in productivity, microeconomic reforms, encouraging Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME) competitiveness, development of capital markets development and employment growth. Chile is a member of the World Trade Organization and has an interesting implementation of something called the Harmonized System Code (HS Code), which allows anyone to (again, online) determine the selling price declared in the customs importation…almost immediately. So, if you want to sell here, you can find out what the (declared) price is on imported goods…nice market insight. This is akin to the RUT code intelligence that you can gather on individuals. When queried about this unusual access to information, the unapologetic response was that it is part of Chile’s desire to have an open, transparent market economy. Hence, too the openness of the regulatory scheme, which we shall discover in the next day or so.

Our visits to the laboratories are efficient and our driver a gentle soul named Cristian, studying to be a lawyer while raising a new kid. Cristian takes the circuitous route between appointments, which is appreciated, because it allows an immersion in the urban and ex-urban areas of the city. Did I mention that Santiago is a big city? Five million in the greater metropolitan area, so compare it with greater Los Angelos, maybe? The Rio Mapocho runs through the city. It is an urban river and bound up by a concrete channel, much like the Seine in Paris, but not at all navigable. In many places the water rushes by so fast that I would peg some of the rapids at a Class 3 or better. A six kilometer tunnel, dug by the Dutch about 10 years ago, allows rapid access to the reach of the city. It runs roughly parallel to and under parts of the Rio Mapocho.

We visited a sample of laboratories, most of them specializing in electrical safety, the most regulated products being household goods and appliances, mostly. The skinny on RF/Wireless products—our bread and butter—is that some registration is required with the government, although the “conformity assessment” process is still nascent and developing slowly. Our first meeting is at CAM Chile, which specializes in electrical safety for electricity installations. Our host there is a little bit wary, honestly, of our intentions. Plainly spoken, we’re there to meet people and see what opportunities are there. We outline a plan for further exploration as we come to understand each other. Our on-the-fly (TOP SECRET) plan buoys his enthusiasm and we leave with assurances to make meet at a later date. Thus continues our education during the next two days, meeting with CESMEC a large (400 people) employee-owned (how about that?) firm with testing capability across the spectrum—except the radio frequency spectrum, that is.

Two plain things about Chile: there is little EMC, but there are fish:

The lack of developed infrastructure to support a regulatory scheme and the availability of outside test data (FCC, Canada and European Approvals) has not sparked an industry. This, coupled with the fact that much of the technology needed to underpin development is imported and not developed locally, leaves only one option: accept existing product approvals. We are not leaving empty handed, however, because we went shopping at the local doo-dad gallery and have our (TOP SECRET) plan to continue operations here.

Chile has implemented some reforms to expand the open-ness of the cooperation and the details are slowly unveiled as we make our way around Santiago, stopping briefly for lunch at Aqui Esta Coco, a positively charming and unique restaurant (and an antidote for “Theme” restaurants that pepper the US landscape of malls and chain stores). Aqui esta Coco is a favored destination, apparently and was the outcome of a dispute between the owner Jorge (remember, it’s pronounced “hor-hay,” like the name of your crazy soccer coach) and his partner, who owned the restaurant “Coco-Loco”. (“Coco” is a nickname for Jorge.) The two partners split up and Coco (Jorge) took his name and opened up a competing restaurant, naming it and proclaiming that Coco is Here (Aqui esta Coco). There are some fantastic fish on the menu and some hilariously ribald caricatures on the men’s room wall.

Meetings meetings meetings. As we work out the details of our (TOP SECRET) plan, we continue to make the rounds to several other innovative potential partners. The key to our market entry is the thin penetration of high technology in the R&D and local manufacturing sector. Most everything is imported (from a technology point-of-view) and hence, there is a low density of high-tech engineering. There are always exceptions, of course and we meet with Felipe with DICTUC, which is associated with the Catholic University of Chile and works in construction materials certification, mining, telecommunications and emerging technologies.

After our meetings with the private sector and universities (CENET, associated with the University of Chile is another learning institution that merits attention), we work our way downtown Santiago to the offices of SUBTEL (Subsecretaire of Telecommunicacions), which is akin to the FCC. We engage Sr. Cristian in his office: a young and eager government official who has the job of overseeing the technical regulations in the Telecom sector. SUBTEL is studying two competing methods of HDTV (one from Japan and the other from Europe) and as we chat in his office two giant flat panel TVs that float with images of city scenes and other attractive transmissions. “Homologation” is discussed, a term with many ethereal meanings, depending on the country and the person you’re talking to. What is interesting and refreshing is the open-ness to embracing a system to allow the entry of products under the holy grail of free trade. We’ll see. That’s because of the sometimes-conflicting information we have received from our contacts as we sampled the private sector, government and educational institutions.

A practical take-away: One critical piece of advice from Cristian that we will long remember, and that should not be subject to the vagaries of government regulations, is the attractiveness of Carmenere wines, a vintage special to Chile. Look for some before I get there and buy a few bottles. Then, I’ll be able to demonstrate why this is critical information and the only unclassified part of our TOP SECRET plan.

Our formal meetings concluded, we take a sidetrip to a bookstore to find a volume of “Chile from on High” for which Desmond has a jones. We wander around the University of Chile and, like many other school environs, the color of the local characters flavors the scene. One gypsy women (una gitana) named Sophia coaxes a few pesos from my pocket. After I ask for a photo through Blanca my interpreter, she fixes her hair, straightens her scarf and gives me Mona Lisa.

Another peculiarity of the college scene is the hazing of the incoming freshmen class—again, a tradition observed in other colleges around the world. Around the plazas, squares and streets, the first-year students wander about partially naked, covered with paint, shoe polish, and having been rubbed with raw fish, fish for small change. Two pesos buys another photo op with this aspiring academician:

Finally, the night before our too-early departure to Buenos Aires, we meet a husband & wife team (Pilar and Eduardo) who are a one-two punch of engineer+lawyer, specializing in market access services for radio, safety and telecommunications requirements. We finally have all the major pieces together to figure out the next step. A complete story will require further visits and more time exploring and enjoying the nuances of an absolutely engaging city.

Buzz us! http://acbcert.com/contact.asp

Next stop: Buenos Aires.

The Travel Monologues
Wherein Three Countries are Sampled Waaay South of the Border

Mike Violette & Desmond Fraser

[March 21, 2007]

Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina

Flying into Buenos Aires, I start to get more than a little excited: A new city, a short flight barely an hour and a half over the Andes, a clean pair of underwear. (Mike: I try to pack as light as possible; Desmond: not me, all 22 kilos per regulations and some more.) With varying amounts of luggage, we arrive at the Buenos Aires Sheraton.

Argent is from the Latin meaning silver, with Latin being the root of the romance languages: Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese and Romanian. For example, in French, “argent” is the term for money. Argentina, now 37 million strong with sub tropical virgin forest, abundant plains, on the Rio del Plata (or River of Silver) was named, one presumes, in connection with the search for riches dating back to the days of the conquistadors. Argentina has the most southern city in the world Ushuasia with varieties of flora and fauna, deserts, glaciers, waterfalls, and long coastline; meshed together they form a unique coastline.

Buenos Aires (“fair winds”), the capital of Argentina and our current destination, was initially founded in 1536 by Pedro de Mendoza—less than 50 years after Columbus drove his staff into the sand at Hispaniola (now the Dominican Republic) and launched a gold, land and religion-fueled conquest of the Americas. The founding of BA was by some 58 people, most of whom were mestizos or mixed-blood: hemoglobin co-mingled with Spanish and Native genes. The froth is not surprising because the Spanish and Portuguese settlers did not generally bring their women with them, and how is a lonely conquistador going to spend his time? There’s only so much exploring, pillaging and subjugation a man can do without a little R&R.

BA city and province lie together with Cordoba, La Pampa, and Santa Fe in the Humid Plain, the center of the country. This plain, as flat as a table except for a few low-lying mountains, is responsible for the delicious meat for which Argentina is renown.

Millions of cattle grazed the plain bred and raised by “Paisanos”, the heir apparent to the Gauchos who have lived on this plain since the 18^th century. They are famously known for their skillful horsemanship and clothing, belts with silver ornaments, decorative sheath knifes, spurs and multi-colored ponchos including the “Lazo” and “Boleadovas”, a contraption out of three leather-covering stones, attached to twisted or plaited thongs of raw leather; both items required for taming cattle or other animals. Mike has a penchant for such, we’ll see if he finds one during our stay. Perhaps “The Big Bull” on a farm near his home, Leadenham Lodge on the Eastern shore, may get riled up and charge any day now, which requires throwing the Boleadovas, albeit some practice may be required before then.

So walking in and through Buenos Aires, one sees a human spice rack of DNA: Spanish and Italian the predominant ingredient, followed by the genes of Indian and local peoples.  There are surprisingly-few of African-American descent—at least in the city, so it seems his lordship was representing his pips.

Starting the day at a café is the most civilized aspect of this blended European-flavored city. One orders a café and as is custom, the go-juice and mineral water are brought out together; a few small cookies complement the beverage, the recipient quips the usual Gracias (Senor, Senora or Senorita). De nada is usually the reply, be it gentle or gruff depending on the female or male voice box.

Speaking of customs, allow me a slight regression: we wrote a little about guan xi in the last set of chronicles during our exploration in China. Guan xi is the special connection that is necessary to make business successful in China. But one finds that it is no different anywhere else, for important business and meaningful social cooperation require attention to these relationships, no matter what corner of the world you’re operating. I truly hope you remember this important aspect of human engagement, as you encounter different people around the globe—observing and respecting unique customs.

In Argentina, one of these particularly unique behaviors is manifest in a particularly joyful way: Argentines kiss (on the cheeks) when greeting each other; men-women, women-men, women-women, men-men, even when greeting for the first time. A single kiss is sufficient—as opposed to the French style of a double buss. In most cases, lips don’t touch cheek and the affection is left floating in the air. We ought to import this genteel behavior to the US; after all, it epitomizes “Good Intentions”—does it not? We are seeking good advice from our astute readers.

BA is the capital of Argentina, the epicenter of her historical and cultural events. The city has contrasting and dissimilar types of European architecture, from 18^th century style buildings, 19^th century mansions and colorful tenements ranging from the neo classic to the modern.

Style and fashion are de rigeur along the Avenida Liberadator, which is the main drag that runs along the waterfront harbor. It is lined with parks and cafes and the traffic noise is deafening. Compare it to the Champs Elysses in Paris. Ave 9 de Julio, the widest avenue in the world, has the Obelisk standing majestically in the middle, reminding us of our own Monument in DC, a very comforting feeling that the US is never far away.

As is most everywhere, American tourists aren’t hard to pick out, they usually have their “game face” on, with Nikes, New Balances, hip-worn purses, all ready for Ciudad de Buenos Aires.

Another great little Spanish word is “claro” (pro. ‘claahro’—and roll your rrrr) which means (literally) ‘clear’. In usage it means ‘I got it,’ ‘Right-on’, ‘Yup’, ‘I hear ya’, ‘Understood,’ ’10-4’. Lot’s of ways to agree.

And so agreeably taking café con leche (milk and coffee) we are staved to begin to unravel the Argentine certification scene and we go in separate directions, taking in a total of a dozen or so substantiative meetings. Desmond is taking the meetings set up by the VEDP and Mike is going to the CITEL meetings at the NH City Hotel near the city center (close to the Casa Rosada, the Argentine ‘White House’, but it’s pink—“rosada”. Word on the streets in BA is that the official colors of the two main political parties are white and red, so pink was the only compromise; imagine our own compromise at home, Red and Blue colors of our main political parties, the white house would be the “Purple House”). La Casa overlooks the famous Plaza de Mayo.

Evita slept here.

You can buy trinkets, have a nap, watch the daily protest, or relax.

But we’re working.

CITEL (Comision Interamericana de Telecommuncaciones or Inter-American Telecommunications Commission) is a forum where government and the private sector in the North and South American Hemispheres meet to “flatten” the technical and regulatory issues to create a Global Information Society (more here: http://www.citel.oas.org/). In the spirit of free trade and market access, the PCC.1 and PCC.2 committees meet twice a year to create common approaches in technology and to make agreements to promote telecom and standards-setting. It’s a looong slow process as one might imagine with so many stakeholders, but progress comes along eventually. Our friends at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have pulled some strings to get us a spot to give a paper outlining our experience as a TCB and the opportunities extended under the Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs). An MRA on telecom now exists between the US and Europe, for example, which allows the mutual acceptance of test data between these two markets.

For many companies These “MRAs” have substantially increased the access to international markets by small and medium-sized manufacturers, most of whom only 15 years ago had zero access. The trick is to convince the regulators that opening up the regulatory schemes to this cross-border recognition will actually help their local manufacturers find wider markets for their goods overseas. The fear is that open access and acceptance of overseas data/approvals will bring in a horde of competition from outside. The reality appears to be that these economies import a lot of technology already, so why not create the opportunity to local manufacturers to find foreign markets, too? I guess it depends on the resources to develop products and technologies that can be produced here and exported abroad. It will take some kind of “critical mass” to bring the relevance to bear. The present manufacturing/trade statistics don’t show much of that occurring now, but it’s a little like rain: you can’t plant or harvest when it’s raining, but you need the rain nonetheless.

Desmond’s five marathon meetings in one day (Thursday) and four on Friday will take him all over the city with our interpreter Luciana, who is a freelance translator working with VEDP on this mission. We hit a trifecta of terrific translators on this mission with a delightful, helpful and interesting person in each locale. Friendships will undoubtedly grow as a result of this visit: the first step in setting up long-lasting business relationships and trust. We’re already assigning follow-on tasks to Luciana as part of our (TOP SECRET) plan.

The CITEL meetings run a few days, although our participation is limited to a single day. The arrangements are like a mini-UN, with the delegates formally seated in tables with little placards indicated the country. Translators hide in a booth in the back and everyone wears headphones and takes turns speaking. Very formal, very respectful. Things loosen up during the CNC-sponsored boat cruise, when the wine corks were twisted from the cabernets and spirits liberally loosened.

The pitch was on the realities and implementation of the MRAs as a “user.” ATCB and our parent companies Rhein Tech Labs and Washington Labs have been able to use the MRAs to the benefit of US manufacturers, whose access to foreign markets pre-MRA were limited at best. The point is, with a loosening of the regulatory structure, free trade can have more of a chance to breathe. The downside is that external competition can grab a stronger grip on the local markets. In the case of South America, the lack of an MRA can help to protect the local industry. On the other hand, the lack of an MRA restricts access to export markets. In the US, we have seen an erosion of manufacturing jobs as the shift towards cheaper labor markets and the demand for cheaper goods by US consumers push manufacturing overseas.

Again, you can’t have it both ways. Do you want plentiful, inexpensive goods that circulate in the market, or do you want to protect jobs? It’s not one way or the other. The need, then, is to recognize the change and work on innovation, which in the case of the US is found in the service sector. There is no society that has the same integrated sophistication in the service sector as the US, and we’re not talking about flipping hamburgers. One need only see the innovation in information services, derivative capital markets, knowledge mining, research and development to see that a service economy is a natural outgrowth of a society that has grown beyond a manufacturing based economy. This is happening in China now, where demands for services is rising, creating opportunities in banking, insurance, legal, real estate and other non-manufacturing activities.

A significant and irreplaceable benefit of our CITEL meeting (thanks again, Mary Jo!) is the opportunity to make connection with representatives from Parguay, Columbia, Venezuela, Uruguay and Costa Rica. Verny and Jose were great dinner companions.

These contacts would have taken us months to arrange and manage. With an effectiveness that saved us countless hours and dollars, our invitation on the recommendation of NIST is well appreciated. I will cheerfully pay my taxes in April (well maybe not too cheerfully). 

The Argentine approvals process is slowly starting to unravel. The key elements are:

Homologation means “getting your paperwork act together.” Near as we can tell, the closest thing that this can be compared to is a “registration” process. In this case, a representative is required. For telecom products, the CNC is the authority, the government authority charged with the regulations of telecom products.

Certification requires the use of a body that is COPITEC approved, administered by RAMATEL. The customer (license holder) does not go directly to CNC, but must be represented by a COPITEC submittor.

Some recent Argentine resolutions require energy efficiency standards be met. Electrical safety is required for household goods and we tour several labs focused on that industry.

[March 22, 2007]

Be at hotel lobby no later than 8 A.M. were the orders from Andre and Jaap the night before, the VEDP officials responsible for our mission. I departed the hotel with Luciana our translator and Carlos the driver at 8.15 A.M., whose body language assures me that he is accustomed to navigating the city. Our first meeting scheduled for 9 A.M., is at Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia Industrial (INTI), where Senora Karina Bisioti, Certification Manager awaits our arrival. On our way, I briefed Luciana on the inner workings of ATCB, and the purpose of our meeting.

Senora Bisioti escorted us to meet two senior members of INTI technical staff Messrs Cesar Bottazzini and Marcelo Tenorio, both well-versed in all aspect of Argentinean product certification including our own very TCB certification program. INTI is similar to the National Institute of Technology (NIST) in the US where research and technology transfer is provided to the private industry. INTI competes with independent private laboratories for product certification, unlike NIST. I described the TCB program to all three INIT officials and stated the purpose of our visit, including areas for future collaboration. In turn, each gave me an overview of the “nuts and bolts” of product certification in Argentina as Luciana performs her Interprete Simultanea switching effortlessly between Espanol and English.

We toured the facility that includes many research departments including a metrology department, EMI/EMC department, and a department dedicated to Wireless testing to name a few. INTI’s Broadcast transmitter laboratory is the only laboratory in Argentina capable of testing TV and Radio broadcast stations; large transmitter dummy loads lay waiting for watts on the department’s floor. We left INTI with a promise to communicate on future collaboration and possible product testing.

My next meeting was with CNC, the FCC Argentine equivalent located in San Telmo, where I would meet with Senor Ceferino Namuncura, the Interventor, a similar position to that of the Chairman of the FCC. San Telmo is widely hailed as the most picturesque part of BA City. Cobblestone streets and colonial buildings set the atmosphere for an array of shops and boutiques, tango parlors and cafes, including government buildings and institutions.

Not far from San Telmo is the Recoleta Cemetery, famous for its acres of ornate mausoleums and beautiful church. The monied and the storied are interred here. Quiet awe and humility are evoked while strolling the aisles.

Evita sleeps here:

A style for everyone:

And a fortuitous frame of light captured inside the church.

But our business is concerned with the present, not the afterlife and at the CNC, after the usual identity verification and assignment of visitor’s badges, Luciana and I proceed to the office of the Interventor; a congenial man with curly black hair and beard invited us to his office. Again, I explained who we were and the purpose of our meeting. He listened attentively and was interested in ATCB’s experience as a Telecommunications Certification Body; as I obliged more details about our program, Luciana skillfully performed her simultaneous translations. Towards the end of our meeting, Senor Namuncura introduced his Certification Manager Ing. Edgar Perrin.

Further discussions on our TCB program were held with CNC’s certification staff, Messrs Perrin, Frizzera, Fernandez, and Gainza.

Our next three meetings in the afternoon after a quick 15-minute bite would take us to three private laboratories, Laboratorios Lenor, Bureau Veritas and Laboratorios Unidos as we zigzagged from one part of the city to another. At Lenor, I meet Senor Ing. Julio Made and Senor Ing. Di Stefano, both pleasant and very warm gentlemen who provided more details of Argentinean Homologation process; by now Luciana was very familiar with my routine and can handle my entire presentation without a word from me. After our exchange, we toured Lenor’s facility with capabilities in Electrical safety testing, EMC and Wireless testing. Lenor has an Asian office branch in Guangzhou, Guangdong province of China that offers Prototype Inspections, Batch Inspections and Factory Inspections services. Offers to stay in touch and to find areas for cooperation were exchanged.

Next, we visited Bureau Veritas, a laboratory that specialize in product safety testing. Senor Nestor Quintela and Senor Alfredo Busso greeted us warmly; another exchange of company introductions, capabilities and purpose of visits were the norm each time we visited our hosts. Both sides promised continued dialog via email to foster possible future cooperation.

Fortunately, Carlos had verified that our final meeting of the day was not far away, with his thick  BA City map guide, I inquired whether an on board GPS system, would not make life a bit easier for Senor Carlos, “Por Favor, it’s coming Senor” he replied, “Gracias Senor Carlos”  I answered back. Finally, we arrived at Laboratorios Unidos and were greeted by a father Hugo Donadello and son Hugo Donadello, both father and son lived in Bethesda MD where Hugo senior was a Military Attaché at the Argentinean Embassy, his son Hugo junior attended school in Bethesda. His English fluency gave Lucian a reprieve from translating. Their lab is a very capable one, with EMC, Product safety, as well as Wireless testing. A tour of the lab revealed on-going WIMAX testing, the new wireless industry buzzword. More education was provided by the Donadellos regarding Homologating a product into Argentina, including the possibility for future cooperation with ATCB.

For as we found out, it does take more than one to tango.

[March 22, 2007]

Our final day of meetings started at our hotel lobby, where we met Senor Ing. Obdulio Siffredi, A COPITEC registered engineer, with 40 years of experience, astute, polite, but a serious fellow indeed. To start the meeting after exchanges of greetings, we ordered café. Yes, it came with the customary go-juice and mineral water including the few small cookies that by now has completely blown my strict diet. Let’s not forget Dulce de Leche, a sweet milk and light caramel one can enjoy without the feeling your fillings are going to leave your head.

“Por Favor” not when this “Tag Team”, crisscrosses the world in quest to facilitate free trade, diets can be adjusted if you know what I mean. We learn more from Senor Siffredi about Argentinean Homologation and promised to stay in touch with the possibility for future cooperation.

Our next meeting was at IADEV, a safety laboratory operated by family Erhardt in the outskirt of the city. Maximilliano and his father greeted us warmly, again company introductions were made, and purpose of visit were stated.

We toured the facility, and were please to note the efficient operation of the laboratory in product safety testing. The Erhardt family whose ethnic background is German, runs their operation more like a typical German company, very neat and tidy, each equipment is accounted for and has a dedicated storage space. Very impressive to say the least, the operation reminded me of my university days in Deutschland.

We left IADEV and headed back to the hotel for another lobby meeting with Senor Yoffe, another COPITEC registered engineer, a jovial and well-informed gentleman with his hand firmly on the pulse of Argentinean regulatory matters. Senor Yoffe shared quite a lot of information with us, again, we soaked it all in. More promises were made to stay in touch with Senor Yoffe via email and the possibility to cooperate in the future.

Also, our appreciation to Sr. Alberto Garfinkel, who is instrumentental in keeping some of our clients approvals aligned and provided a great overview of his mastery of the delicate balance one must maintain.

Towards the end of our stay in BA, we went with our NIST friends to IRAM and met the kindly and gentlemanly Sr. Guillermo Pedroncini. IRAM provides certification of electrical and electronics products and is linked with UK and Spanish certification interests. Sr. Pedronicini is generous with his time and knowledge of the "ins and outs" of the Argentine certification process."

Our last and final meeting was at DMC Wireless Systems, and there we met Messrs. Gerado Cohen, Gustavo Berastegui, and Augustin Vuoto. DMC Wireless System, specializes in high frequency testing of Point to Point and Point to Multi Point wireless systems including Microwave transceivers. They are the only other lab except INTI with scope to do such testing. Our meeting was cordial with exchanges of company introductions and a tour of their impressive capabilities.

Finally, Sunday, a chance to return to San Telmo and shop for some doo-dads. The sparkling water industry has castoffs of various vintages for sale. Crafts, bolos, restored antiques abound.

So off to Sao Paulo. Writing this to you helps to solidify much of the smorgasbord of experiences. Thanks for being there for us, even while we’re “here.”

http://acbcert.com/contact.asp

The Travel Monologues
Wherein Three Countries are Sampled Waaay South of the Border

Mike Violette & Desmond Fraser

[March 25: Sao Paulo]

The city of Sao Paulo, maybe more aptly described as Sprawl Paulo, for it extends unceasingly in every direction, is a myriad of development: industry, quaint neighborhoods, uncountable high rises and mottled favellas. Sao Paulo is the epicenter of development in Brazil and there are more people in the environs of SP than in the whole of Chile. Thanks to Jesuit missionaries Jose de Anchieta and Manoel da Nobrega, who founded the little city of Sao Paulo in January of 1554, she has now blossomed into the most important economic city in Latin America and the fifth largest in the world.

Our arrival in SP, a full week + into our travel through South America takes us to The Tulip Hotel, a 10 p.m. arrival made more comfortable by Andre’s fine selection of motor coach. This is, after all, his stomping grounds, having been born and raised in Sao Paulo. Andre, as I have to this point neglected to point out, is of Hungarian descent and has facility in several languages. We are pleased to have the fine services of a superb local Paulistano getting us the best ride in town.

And then there were eight. No, it’s not like we were voting people off the trip, a la “Survivor,” but our ranks did curiously dwindle as we went along…

We have eight meetings in the two business days we will spend in Sao Paulo, which will take us all over the city and as far afield as Sao Paulo dos Campos, a good hour and a half into the country and the location of the Institute Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais, or National Institute for Space Studies. Mike is visiting IPE. Desmond will visit CPQD a former Federal research laboratory turn private EMC and research laboratory located in the city of Campinas, north of Sao Paulo, which is also within the state of Sao Paulo. Campinas is dubbed the Brazilian Silicon Valley, since it is home to many multinational companies including Motorola, Lucent, Samsung, Alcatel and IBM to name a few. More on that later.

In Argentina, the national dance is the Tango, as we may or may not have related before. In Brazil, it is the Samba, an upbeat spirited celebration of human motion and emotion.

Our translator is the comely Renata (pro. ‘hey nata’) Barroso, an experienced tour guide with a keen sense of our mission. As in our other adventures, we find that it is not long before our excellent local support can do much of the pitch and presentation for us. Sr. Vandelay, our driver and protector, provides the navigation of the tortuous and traffic-twisted streets of one of the biggest cities in the world, well sometimes the ride was . They try to keep certain cars off the roads and have the Rodizio or rotation system that only allows certain cars—determined by their license plates—to be driven on certain days. It’s not clear to me whether it’s working, but it helps.

A panoramic view of SP from the 23rd floor is below. We are located a few blocks off of the main drag, Paulista Avenue, so this is a decent perspective of the extent of the city. Awesome.

Rising on the first full day and fortified with a cafezinio, we take our first meeting at the Fundacao Vanzolini with Sr. Jose Joaquim do Amaral Feriera, a good friend of our friend Reinaldo at ANSI. Sr. Amaral gives an overview of the Certification system and their activities. FCAV is linked to the University of Sao Paulo, providing training and certification services for Latin America, boasting 1200 existing current certifications, operating in the automotive realm and in partnership with ICONTEC in Columbia and IRAM in Argentina. In addition, the province of Sichuan manufactures tires and automotive components for the Brazilian market. The 100 auditors under the aegis of FV cover the product certification horizon.

Sr. Amaral gives us some insight into the cell phone certification market, which is one of the most important certification areas in these markets. The explosion in the use of cell phones is certainly a worldwide phenomena; we find out from our friends at Multiteste Telecom that the cellular subscriber base is 108million in Brazil, compared with 38 million fixed subscribers, the explosion in cell phone growth outpacing traditional land line use. This is much the same in most developing countries where profit incentive and the (relatively) cheaper cost of installing base station networks (as opposed to running wires everywhere) makes cell phones the technology of choice.

We agree to continue our dialogue, possibly after Sr. Amaral returns from an upcoming trip to Japan and Romania, attending an IQNET meeting in Bucharest, a city I hope to visit sometime, oft-referred to as Mical Paris, or “Paris of the East.”

Not so very much different from some of the images from Buenos Aires, eh?

But back to business, time for “caipers” later.

We continue our tour of the testing facilities with a trip to ILSPE and met Sr. Seixas, whose worthy enterprise conducts electrical wire and component testing. Sr. Seixas’ operation is pin-neat and accredited by INMETRO, the accrediting authority for testing laboratories. He is a gentleman and the impressive thing about the operation is the spare neighborhood where he works, favella slums and true hardship are his neighbors; here is an example of the polarized Brazil: The Rich and Poor and we’ve seen the gritty underbelly of Sao Paulo on this visit. A few days from now and a universe away is our last visit to the INPE folks, whose NASA-grade testing facility performs the Integration and Test on Brazil’s satellite technologies (more later).

The genial Sr. Seixas has a friendly (and to Renata’s relief, a firmly chained) pit bull in the front “yard”, ostensibly to discourage nosy neighbors. I can’t figure out if he’s transmitting or receiving with that thing around his neck.

Desmond: Mike you forgot, he was receiving, it’s a very high gain spiral antenna; he must have been informed by Sr. Seixas to stand alert, and to stand down after we leave the premises. The Americans are in town, be alert Herr Pit Bull!

Next, our schedule takes us to law offices of Barreto Ferreira Kujalwski Brancher Advogados. We are treated to an overview of the Brazilian economy, business matters and some practical advice about making partnerships. Same everywhere. Get to know the local market, have a trusted partner, have reasonable expectations and expect some risk. Some of the more telling information is in the subtext of the conversation, particularly in the comments about the financial meltdowns that Brazil has experienced over the years. You see, it wasn’t so very long ago that the military was firmly in control and economic growth was something that came at a great price. The inflation rates have been so onerous that currency devaluations of one thousand fold were not uncommon in the period through the 1980s and 1990s. One upon a time the currency was called the cruzado, it was devalued (by lopping off three zeros at the end of the value) and renamed the cruzeiro. After a period of time, it, too had to be adjusted and the new cruzado introduced. Now, it’s the real (pro. “ray – al”) and has been the exchange currency for a good number of years.

Next up, Precision Solutions. Mr. Eduardo Kee. Anatel approval/acceptance is the Grail, we find out. Precision Solutions is a young and eager company providing protocol testing and engaged with many of the latest telecom technologies. The youngest of the firms we visit, Precision Solutions is one of the few with a, how shall one say it, foreign-sounding name

UCIEE, run by Sr. Pinto is a laboratory with some vintage and heritage, recently purchased by TUV Rheinland, a large multi-national testing and certification firm based out of Germany and friends of ours in the States. We’ll see them Thursday.

After a full day of bumping along the roads of Sao Paulo, many torturous, we gratefully accept an invitation to Andre’s “Governor’s Dinner” at a local Vento Harragano Churrascaria. Here, one sits and a variety of freshly grilled meats are brought to the table on hot sabers. All get a green/red start/stop coaster which is flipped to green to keep the carvers carving, or red when one needs to cry “uncle.”

Wooden roasted on premises.

We partake of erva maté (Spanish: yerba maté), an agreeable gentle green tea made with yerba leaves, some sort of species related to the holly tree.

Desmond: Yerba leaves?

Mike: Yes, yerba leaves.

Desmond: Are you sure it was yerba leaves?

Mike:

Well the folks back home would gawk at this popular beverage, wondering what it was. Hot water is poured into a shared gourd which contains the dried yerba leaves, making a smooth tea. The tea is sucked through a metallic straw (bombilla or bomba) that has a screen of some sort machined into the end. Mike: I bought some yerba and a gourd—you’ll have to try it with me someday. Desmond: I was afraid the authorities coming in may want to find out more about yerba leaves, so I opted for Tourmaline instead, a dark brilliant green Brazilian semi-precious gemstone.

Our new friend Caique (Kai-ee-kay) shows us how it’s done.

Multiteste Telecom Services is a wired telecommunications firm staffed by veterans of ANATEL. I am privileged to see their innovative testing fixtures; true engineers with a penchant for finely designed custom testing arrangements. It brings back memories to us when the need for innovative solutions required scrounging wires and components and cardboard to make those one-of-a-kind fixtures for those one-of-a-kind tests. Impressive and most labs we have visited thus far are quite proud of their in-house one-of-a-kind designs.

Then it’s off to Sao Jose dos Campos, site of the Institute of Space Studies (INPE). Here, we tour with Sr. Pinto, who very agreeably takes us on a walkabout of the amazing facilities, which rival those that I’ve seen at NASA. There are several teams of engineers working on products from cell phones to passenger busses to a satellite that is being jointly-developed with the Chinese.

In the high-bay area, there is a huge thermo-vacuum chamber presently being commissioned. This special type of stainless steel vessel, built by Spanish and US contractors, simulates the vacuum and heat of Earth orbit and beyond. The chamber sucks all the air out of the space and heaters bring the ambient radiant heat up to orbital levels. The idea is to make sure that something called outgassing doesn’t cause failures during flight. Other effects include mechanical warping and tolerance and communications testing. It’s hard to fix a satellite once it’s been shot into space, the insurance premium for such an undertaking is rather high. Most failed satellite launches or malfunctioning satellites claims are settled in insurance arbitration, in which the manufacturer settles for far less that their initial investment rather than to go to court for all or nothing, hence the need to simulate these conditions here on terra firma.

Dinner is relaxed that night. We take a short dinner at the Japanese restaurant in the hotel. Bea is coy with her tempura fan.

And make an early jaunt up the elevator to pack.

Our last day is a fairly quick because we’ll be jumping on our plane back to the states, but we have two visits to conclude our visit to SP:  first, to Fundacao CPqD, a sophisticated testing laboratory and then onto the main TUV offices on Paulista Avenue, which concludes our South American networking.

At CPqD, we were met by Sr. Guilherme Dias dos Santos, Sr. Sebastiao Sahao Junior, and Sr. Carlos Eduardo Salla. Obrigado to our CPqD host for serving such a lovely tray of Brazilian cheese bread “Pao de Queijo”, Renata and I enjoyed much of it immensely. CPqD is now an OCD, and a for profit private laboratory, it use to be a Federal facility providing research and testing to all branches of the Brazilian government not so long ago.

Touring the 13 building campus reveals two very tall concrete antenna towers for antenna gain and beam pattern characterization testing. (Remember our friendly pit bull’s very high gain spiral antenna that Mike was not sure whether it was transmitting or receiving? Well, perhaps this is where it was tested.) The buildings included an Antenna design facility, a Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) measurement laboratory, and a High frequency wireless laboratory. Other esoteric measurement and testing facilities are part of CPqD’s campus, offering technical know-how in design and testing for national and multinational global companies in and around the Campinas area.

We say “ciao” and “obrigado” to Reynata and Vandalay, pack our bags and head to the airport; back home, to rinse out our socks and repack for Asia…