>> this is the journal on dwtv. here are the headlines this hour. preparing for a no-fly zone over libya? nato and the your opinion are in crisis talks. gaddafi troops have regained control of the boil city. and a new book on the life of jesus christ, written by the pope.

>> several major developments in the libya crisis. reports have come and that gaddafi troops have seized an important city. france has gone it alone, recognizing the rebels transitional national council was the only representative of the libyan people. that is where we begin. >> paris took the diplomatic world by surprise. president nicolas sarkozy held talks with the opposition national council and then announced that france recognizes the organization as the legitimate government. sarkozy favors military action against the gadhafi's regime and he will propose a at an eu leaders summit on friday. none of this was agreed beforehand. the eu has been seeking a united message on libya.

>> we are in no doubt that any measures that go beyond targeted sanctions would require a mandate from the united nations. it is also crucial that other states from the region, under the umbrella of the arab league, should be included. both and supporting and carrying out those measures. >> germany and france had held talks earlier, but there was no word of sarkozy's hard-line stance. the two countries did agree that it was time for gaddafi to go. colonel gaddafi has discredited himself and must go. he must now engage in dialogue with libya's new representatives. >> we continue to be appalled by the levels of violence in libya. we call on colonel gaddafi to leave and for his regime to end the violence against his own people. >> europe now wants to cut off

libya's source of funds. it would include many links the telling companies have with the oil business. the secretary general says he will not call it a civil war, but nato is worried that libya could end up a failed state and a breeding ground for terrorism. the no-fly zone is a serious option with one important condition. >> we considered as well initial options regarding a possible no- fly zone in case nato were to receive clear united nations mandates. ministers agreed that further planning will be required. so our message today is that

nato is united. nato is diligent. nato is ready to act. >> that was the native secretary-general. i began by asking if he can confirm that it was making concrete plans to impose a no- fly zone over libya. >> it is hard to say, frankly. there has been a lot of talk today on this very subject. the secretary-general was just saying that it needs a un mandate. it needs a support of the region by the arab league. and there needs to be a demonstrable sign of a trigger for such action. i am not sure that is right. i honestly do not know. it is very difficult. it is difficult for the nato allies. never before have these diplomats and politicians been meeting when the issue they're discussing is moving so quickly on the ground. that is what people were having

a big summit on this issue. it is so difficult to predict the way things will go. it is hard to say. plans are certainly being made, but it all depends on the united nations. >> how do you see what france did today, recognizing the rebels as the only representative force of the libyan people. is that a diplomatic bomb exploding where you are? >> not really. it was a surprise to the foreign ministers when they heard this. but it was clear that what francis tried to do is push the european union ministers of the fence. in other stop engaging with gaddafi engage only with the rebels. the majority say, no. the fact is that gaddafi is still in power. i think this is french frustration with that balancing act. they want to push everyone toward recognition. of course, diplomats say, what does that mean anyway?

on the ground, frankly, it does not amount to much more than rhetoric. >> thank you very much, jeff. >> in libya, gaddafi troops appear to be winning ground on the rebels. there are reports that they have -- that the opposition forces have lost the oil city. >> they hit it with heavy artillery and bombs. rebel forces retreated in the face of the onslaught. but they intend to fight on. >> i saw two planes coming in very low. if i had been ready, maybe i could have shot down the planes. >> the fighting does not show any sign of letting up. in an interview, the dockery's son vowed never to surrender to the rebels who he called

terrorists. -- gaddafi boss' son vowed never to surrender to the rebels who he called terrorist -- gaddafi's son vowed never to surrender to the rebels who he called terrorists. meanwhile, the red cross has warned of rising casualties in the conflict. dozens of civilians have been killed or injured after getting caught up in the fighting. food is becoming scarce. the united nations has responded by sending containers of aid to been gauzy through egypt. the situation in libya is forcing many to leave their homes. more than two thousand have already fled the country. >> our correspondent is in benghazi in eastern libya. i ask him what he has heard about rebels losing that oil port. >> i have not been able to confirm that.

certainly, the gaddafi forces swept through much of that region through the day, an onslaught of tanks, artillery, at least two that separated the strategic movement and a drive from the desert to capture the city. it would not surprise me if the dead doggigaddafi forces would e opposition troops from their. >> is there an opposition point? >> it is likely that they would have moved enough equipment as they can down the road and tried to set up new defense is. we have seen less volunteers coming up to fortified that front line.

i am certain that is happening at this hour, convoys of armament, ammunition, of volunteers trying to block that road, to keep gaddafi forces from going into their. >> thank you. in afghanistan, a suicide bomber killed the to the police of the northern of guinness then province of produckudus. two of the city's -- of the cheese bodyguards were also killed. a good day to own some bmw shares. it is selling like hotcakes. bmw has become the latest premium model maker to post record earnings for the past year. it prompted the largest car

producer in sales to offer the biggest dividend ever. it exceeded market expectations and it is already reaching the growth target it wanted to achieve by 2012. net profits soared to 2.3 billion euros last year. they are expecting to sell at least 0.5 million vehicles this year, setting it on course for another record results. europe's biggest car maker, volkswagen, says it is experiencing a strong quarter as well and is on its way to becoming the world's no. 1 carmaker. they have reaffirmed plans to merge the shrine with portische. >> by the time they turn 64, and other executives in germany have usually retired.

but not the the stridency 0. he has just extended his contract by five years and has a clear strategy going forward. >> we make cars for specific markets, but we also tried to produce cars in those markets. >> the company faces numerous challenges. its spanish subsidiary is losing money. but try and management has decided to make a simple yet robust mid range sedan with a price around 10,000 euros. it is to compete with its korean and japanese rivals. >> we should not become complacent, self assured, or careless. that is why i have to be sure that our employees continue to work with dedication and energy. volkswagen aims to become the world's largest carmaker by 2018. >> close reassures plunged by

more than 3.5% -- volkswagen shares plunged by more than 3.5%. >> the head of the year rose own summit in brussels, suspense on the trading floor is rising. what will the heads of state be deciding? will creditors of shaky euro zone countries be able to play a more substantial role in the restructuring of the state budgets? due to assessments like this, of course, the downgrading of spain by moody's this thursday met particular attention on the trading floor. the stock market in frankfurt ended the day down. china imported less services goods than anyone had anticipated. >> the?

-- the daxx is falling. across the atlantic, the dow was experiencing a sharp sell-off on this thursday. on the currency markets, the bureau is turning in a value of 3731. china caught the market by surprise on thursday by reporting a trade deficit in february. the country imported 5.2 billion euros more worth of goods than it exported. it is only china's second deficit in about seven years. the news comes at a time when china has been facing big criticism over its export-led growth policy. the deficit could reduce the pressure put on beijing by some of its main trading partners to allow its currency to appreciate.

germany's public-sector workers can look forward to a wage hike after unions and government negotiators agreed on a new contract. some 600,000 state workers will get a 1.5% pay hike beginning april 1. that is no joke, as well as a onetime payment. next year's wages will rise by another 1.9%. public-sector unions had stayed several warning strikes to push home their demand for higher pay. >> thank you. there is an interesting question these days. was jesus christ a political revolutionary? the pope says no. he has a new biography of today authored by the pope himself. >> jesus of nasser's, holy week,

pope benedict ii on the resurrection of jesus. he rejects the idea that the jews are collectively responsible for his death. the pope also rejects the idea developed by liberation theology is that jesus was a political revolutionary figure. the book also condemns violence committed in god's name. >> it is very important for everybody, not only for the catholics. >> obviously, as a publisher, i hope the book sells well. i am certain it will. >> he is probably right. his first book on the life of jesus sold more than half a million copies. this release is the second part of a planned trilogy. although, the vatican has not said when the final volume is likely to hit the bookshops. >> we have the results of the final 16 rounds in the rubble

late. the german team won a three-2 after the spanish team scored a goal in the final minutes. it was a good night for portuguese. bravo beat liverpool -- boraga beat liverpool. the second leg takes place march 17. has made music history and now guitars and amplifiers used by eric clapton have gone to the auction block. proceeds are going to a treatment center for drug and alcohol addiction which clapton founded. he is one of the most influential rock guitarist, but his style also includes reggae and blues. ♪

>> we love to leave you with some music. >> has anyone seen charlie sheen hanging around? [laughter] >> incredible. in one minute, we will be back with our in-depth report. >> what makes a homeland a home? the people? the place? the the feeling? -- the feeling? they all left the places they were born for a life in germany. now they are going back. five migrants are coming home, our series starting march 13 on dwtv.

[dogs barking] ♪ >> welcome back, everyone. it has been a month since a popular uprising in egypt toppled president hosni mubarak. the friction is still fierce. in cairo, at the epicenter of the protests, pro and anti- mubarak groups are still fighting. mutt -- none of this bodes well for egypt's future. we want to take a moment to examine the people who brought the change to a head, egypt's politically engaged young people. is what they're doing now, more

than anything you find in the country, that gives reason to believe that positive change will last. >> one of the young egyptians who has come to this television studio to talk about egypt's future is muhammed oabbas. he is part of the coalition of revolution the youth, the alliance of young activists who helped oust hosni mubarak. >> every day, we hold meetings to explain our message, to outline our demands and to talk about what we have accomplished and where the problems are. >> the coalition's goals range from reforming the dips constitution to ending corruption to exposing the old regimes are abuses -- the old regime's abuses. coalition leaders want to completely rebuild the country's political system. >> now, we have not yet achieved

our objectives. we will play a role until the end of the transition. ->> their hard work appears to be bearing fruit. they take the group seriously because the members represent the entire political spectrum, from the conservative moslem brotherhood to progressives and because they have shown they can work together. >> we socialists have a long history of cooperation with the muslim brotherhood. it started in 2005. we have always called for cooperation with the brotherhood because they were already -- always ready to take to the streets and it would be wrong to ignore them. >> it can take hours of talk to reach a consensus. the meetings usually begin only

after the regular working day. but activists like these believe that that kind of commitment is necessary if they are to create a new egypt. >> obviously, most of us are passionate about politics. and if it proves necessary, we will support each other to continue this mission. >> what these young people are doing seems remarkable in a country that is emerging after decades of autocratic rule. there commitment to democratic processes is hopeful. >> is it possible to talk about tangible progress in egypt? >> there is, in the sense that the military has made it clear that it is not going to stay in power. it will pass on or hand over political responsibility to

various appointed leaders, an interim government. the army is very cautious not to be involved in the new political process. they do not want to be made responsible should something go wrong. so they are looking for civilians who will really take up responsibility. that is good for egypt. of course, egypt also needs new laws and a new constitution. it needs a re-education of the judicial system. lawyers in egypt so far have been known for being corrupt. that takes quite some time. that is where the united states can play a positive role and to provide expertise and helping egyptians to devise a new democratic state for their country. >> visit the reform movement, the government or the military? >> the army has understood very

well that people want a change and they also understood that they are not doing themselves a favor chevet cling to power. so the army is willing to join the democratic process, not to keep power, not talking about a military coup. that will not happen. egypt will also not become a muslim state in the sense of an islamic republic. the moslem brotherhood is strong, but they have understood very well the people do not want an cents system -- do not want an islamic system of government. should the muslim brotherhood fail to deliver in this context, there will be marginalized and not play a political role in egypt and a >> what about the recent violence going on between coptic christians and muslims. i thought they were moving together. was that an illusion?

>> i do not think this was an illusion. there have always been tensions between them. but, in my view, should egypt now take a more balanced political course with a economic perspectives, tensions between them will see is. these tensions have been abused by politics in the past. of course, there are radical muslim fanatics, but these are really very small minorities. you have to see who is behind this latest attack on coptic egypt. but you never really know who is really responsible. it may be members of the old guard were trying to pretensions one more time as it has happened in the past. >> thank you very much for talking with us today. >>tahrir square is home base foa

lot of pro-democracy activists. they continue to camp there despite repeated skirmishes with pro-mubarak thugs. we spoke with the egyptians about what the square means to them today. >>[scensinging] >> liberation square is truly a place of freedom. >> this is our home now, the

place where we achieve their freedom. we have proven that we are one nation with all its religions and class'es. >> we want equality, freedom, and justice. together, we want to exert pressure on the government. >> what is wrong with people wanting freedom, freedom of speech, even if that means saying no? ♪ >> it is happening in tunisia. it is happening in egypt. it can happen anywhere. >> we can do it. >> only if we continue can this square be a symbol of liberty. we're still in the middle of the revolution, perhaps in the beginning.

>> that is our report. thank you for watching.

♪ - hi, this is bob scully, and welcome to another edition of the world show: entrepreneurs: the dobson series. our guest this week is an entrepreneur

and one of the world's foremost engineers. and when i say engineer, i don't mean "casey" jones steamin' and a rollin'; i mean one of that profession that oversees grand projects, from china to latin america to africa; universities, dams, roads--nothing scares him. he loves to build these things or to supervise the building of them. and yet, these dreams that he is fulfilling and that allowed him to become a doctor of letters from the new jersey city university and an overseer of the board of the john c. whitehead school of diplomacy at seton hall--those dreams began long ago on a farm and in a barbershop up in canada. here is bernard poulin. dr. poulin--probably the first time anybody calls you that--i'm not going to ask you for medical advice, but i am going to congratulate you on this degree. and of course i know you as bernard poulin, the world- trotting, globe-trotting engineer who has done stuff on every continent, and we want

to get into that, because it's an incredible company that you've built. but when doing the research i found out about your grandfather and your father to whom you pay a great deal of respect and tribute, and your grandfather was a farmer. tell me about that. - first of all, i never dared to be called dr. poulin yet, but i think it can be useful in certain circumstances. well, my... i guess my upbringing was a little different than many kids at that time. my father was a very, very, very special man. my father was the 16th of a family of 16--he was the last child--and his father died when he was 12 years old. - father was a farmer. - father was a farmer. yeah. big family like they had in quebec in these days, and we're talking 1913 when my father was born. and so--something that would probably not happen today-- his mother got remarried with another guy that had

15 children. - so that's, what, 31 kids? - kind of felt lonely in the house. so he got a job and went to work in what they called lumber camps. and at lumber camps he worked in the kitchens, he started a little job that they had in those days called water boy, and he learned the trade of being a barber. so it's very special because later on in life at the age of 16 he was working in the city that i was born in--sherbrooke-- and working in this barbershop, he wanted to get an education, so he tried to talk to his brothers and sisters. nobody would believe that the son of a farmer could ever get an education. and he was looking at this... they called it the séminaire of sherbrooke, which was a school for people that wanted to be lawyers, doctors-- they called it the classical course at the time--and so he went to see them. it was a boarding school too,

and he went to see the headmaster over there that was a priest, and he said, "you know, if i would be the barber of the school, and i would cut the hair of the students, could that be enough to pay my schooling there?" and so they accepted, and my father became the official barber with his own barbershop in the school, and-- - and he was just a kid. he was still a teenager. - my father was 16 years old when he got in, and he paid his whole studies over there cutting hair. later on he went to school at the university of montreal and became a lawyer, and another degree in political science. and so he got his education due to the fact that people gave him a break to work on his studies as being a barber. - and he was obviously a very brave kid. he didn't fear much. and i'm told that he used to cut your hair in the basement, and-- - yes. that's one thing that was a little frustrating for me,

because, you know, all the kids would go to the barbershop and have the décor of the barbershop, and me, i had to go in the cellar. once every two, three weeks i had my hair cut, and he had the same tools of the barbershop, but it wasn't really cutting my hair that was important for my father; the real thing was he'd usually talk to me in the cellar of the facts of life, of how to deal with people, his opinions on religion. you know, where we come from--quebec--in those days was very catholic, but my father used to teach me to respect all cultures. he would tell me how the jewish people were, how the muslim people were, and how these were irrelevant. so he really taught me very sound principles of every stage in life. respect the individual and their qualities above all. - and a very striking thing: here he is from a reconstituted family of 31, which is probably a record, but he only had one child: you. - yes, because, you know, when he finished his schooling--

starting a little late-- high school and university, he actually got married around the age of 35, so when i was born, he was already 37. - so it wasn't a decision or anything. - no, but he put all his energy to make a good one, as he used to say. [laughing] - and he died when you were still quite young. you credit him with giving you those business principles that have made you such a success. - yes, because my father was coming from a farm background, and having lived in the country, he was also an avid fisherman, an avid hunter, so he brought me everywhere, brought me everywhere. and early on he started to-- i remember at the age of two and a half years old one summer going hunting at our summer place. he would practice shooting pistols. and i still remember him holing the gun-- a 32 special with a long barrel--and target shooting in this month of july--

- and you were two. the gun was heavier than you. - yeah, and another thing my father did--it was kind of a multifaceted upbringing-- he used to... at the age of six i needed to go every saturday-- he would work on saturday morning, receive clients--and i had a job: on every saturday morning, i needed to go to the office, empty the trash, bring it to the incinerator, and do little errands, do some little cleaning up, and i would sit at the secretary's desk and wait while people were coming in. sometimes people would come out, and he would introduce me to a contractor, he would introduce me to a manufacturer, he would introduce me to his clients. and you know, when you're that age, and you meet people all the time like this, you demystify the world of people. it's very... - he was educating you. - yeah, educating me full time. full time. and i was having fun doing it too. - that's right, and you didn't resent any of this, except maybe

the haircuts. you enjoyed all this, and you took it all in, and it made you, i would think, as i read your story, quite mature at an early age. you were in school when you started your business. let's talk about that. - well the thing with my father is when... in those days, when he was coming to the office, i was fascinated by books that i was reading about dams that were built, and i saw dams in foreign countries, and i got fascinated by this, and so i was really fascinated by the... i'd say the engineering profession, and the profession of being able to build and create things. and so i had this early on in my life, and when i started university, my father got sick, and i wanted very, very much to succeed and go into business very quickly, so i decided to... we were in a university where it

was like a cooperative program where we had to work in different companies, and i get the idea at that time that there was an opportunity to start a soil-testing firm, and so a year and a half before graduating, i talked with my father, and i incorporated a company, talked to one of my classmates that's still with me--gérard laganière--and, well, let's say we'll try it. and so, uh... - and you guys weren't licensed engineers, so you hired one of your professors. - yes, but doing the soil testing at the time, we had hired a senior technician, but we got a big shock of reality in the face when--that's very fine, you start to make proposals, but the guy starts asking you for professional liability insurance and all this. and, oh, we don't have the experience. even though we think we know that we can handle this, it didn't work

that way. so i went to see my teacher--phd in soil mechanics-- and he accepted for ten percent of the shares to be involved in the company, and that solved my problem, at least on the side of being able to-- - so you're going to class and you hired the teacher. - yeah, it created a little uncomfortable zone for some of the other teachers that were kind of, uh, "who's this kid that's hiring us?" - they gave you the degree anyway. - well, i had the notes-- i had the grades--so, uh... - and i notice, like your father, you were somewhat fearless. i mean, you wanted to really make it quickly, but you must have hit some other snags along the way--financing-- i mean when you started. - the first snag was... there was one thing very... the initial financing was not too hard, because going to school i didn't have a lot of debts--i didn't have any debts. i went to school in sherbrooke and i was living in sherbrooke,

so the snags didn't come there. the snags started to come when the receivables started building, when the payrolls... we grew from--well, from the first year, we went from zero to 43 employees at the end of the year. - oh! - so imagine your cash-flow production of the first three months. you bust them every... so the banker used to go in to increase the margin, and at least we concentrated on work in cities, school boards, and we had sound receivables, but still, you know, we started the company with a loan of $15,000. - incredible. and i'm surprised you got bank credit. they were good receivables, obviously, because there you are, very young. - but the banks in canada at that time--i'll say it; it was royal bank of canada-- those people, when someone had a degree, they went for it. i didn't have any endorsement.

i was lucky. of course, i didtwt said no, but we got a break there. - and again, the way you dare to do things brought you more quickly on the international scene maybe than somebody else. you really started pretty quickly going to south america, all over the place. - yeah, well, you know, the company took two, three years, but i always wanted to expand more, so while i was working i was studying. i did a master's in civil engineering, but from early on i always wanted to go to harvard, and i did, and i didn't do an mba, but i did the owner/president program in 1980-82. and there i also got good... harvard taught me a few little tricks, like, "don't put yourself in limits; let the market put the limits on you", and "people do what you inspect, not what you expect". different little things, and you know what

harvard does, and i guess all those respectable institutions? they make you have conf-- you realize that the things that you do instinctively in life, by all the cases that you study, you realize that, well, there's something that you have that's true, because they demonstrate it through all the case studies and all the people that are there that have lived through these experiences. you come out of these experiences with a lot of good friendly people you can rely on to trust, but also with a lot of confidence. - they tell you that you were doing the right thing all along. - pretty much so, but with refining techniques of how to be better. - and how do you go... in the third world now--i mean, the world has grown a lot smaller--but 20, 30 years ago, it was scary, it seems to me, to go to saudi, to go to, i don't know, brazil. - you're so right,

because the first trip i took to saudi in 1982, i went there as an advisor to a builder that was going to work on a university, so i went there nonchalantly advising him with an accountant friend on the contract he was signing with this institution, and i realized there was a lot of mistakes--the guy would have eaten his shirt. they forgot the transport fees, they forgot the lodging for the staff, they forgot this, forgot that. so i advised him to correct this. he went around, this contractor, and came back with the contract signed. by then, i was ready to leave. and one of the guys said, "no, don't leave; stay with us, stay for wednesday. you know, we can go to the executions on wednesday. this week there's no whips, they don't cut heads this week, but there's a little whipping, a little hand cutting". it scared me. i got out on the first flight i could. - yes, i've heard of those. i've seen a tape, actually.

- and i didn't go back for 20 years. - i don't blame you. i saw a tape from iraq in saddam's day. this was a full stadium, and i thought that was the exception, but i see now it's the rule. so that scared you off. on the other hand, let's make it a bit jollier. i want to hear about the chinese and their toasts. - ah, the chinese and their toasts. that's my first trip-- no, not my first trip, but one of my first trips, and i'm talking 1994, okay? i'm... well, there's two stories about those. i'll tell you the first story-- - i want the 23 toasts. - okay, that's the one you want? so, some people are introducing me, like a city council of a city. they travelled by train like 20 hours to come and have lunch with us and discuss certain problems that they could solve in their water systems in their municipality. so we do this lunch chinese banquet in the hotel, and the chinese, they

drink this little alcohol called maotai, and you do toasts. and it's kind of a cultural way, but people toast, and everybody toasts together, and everybody gets to be very drunk, okay, but the real character of people comes out, and i think that's the way that they have to test you. so, believe it or not, i took 23 of those little shots at 55 or 60% proof. to my big surprise, i was still standing, but i had a meeting with madame hu, who was vice minister of natural resources, where we had made a proposal for a big dam safety study. and i left that meeting, and i went to the ministry, very confident, but not really... - a bit shaky? - a little shaky, and i still remember, she was sitting in her chair, very, very formal, as all chinese. all her people were there. i was looking at her. she

might have been a little blurry, but my idea in my mind was completely... i knew exactly what to say, and i started. bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. and i left, and i thought things must have gone well. the next day, we got awarded a contract. - well! have some more of that liquor. go on. - well, an experience in china that was taught me in another toast a little later was in guilin, where we were doing the environmental master plan with the vice mayor and the canadian delegation with a foreign minister at the time. and i'm sitting right beside the vice mayor, and at a certain point, i didn't tip the wine glass. and when he did the toast, it was water. so now i understood that the chinese are very wise people. - and so have you ever feared, though--i mean, apart from that saudi experience, which was very shocking--you and your employees, do you worry--because

you have these huge spreads in algeria and various countries-- is security a constant worry in your business? - yes it is. we have to be very careful. we don't run after putting our people in countries where there are... you know, you can feel this. when people are not too familiar with a country, like, even in algeria. algeria is a pretty safe country, but not every place in algeria is safe. but there are certain regions that you shouldn't go to, there are some places you shouldn't go to, and there are precautions, and you have to insist that these are always, always taken into account. like, right now some people are telling me to start looking in afghanistan, start looking in... darfur, south sudan, uh... - to be ahead of the curve, but, uh-- - let's be careful. we need to

keep our people alive and keep them safe, so we need to worry, but on the other hand we can compensate by following the advice of our governments, by planning, by not putting them in dangerous areas. and if we do put them in dangerous areas, there are ways you can hire local consultants, local advisors. you have to cherry pick where you put your assets. but you have to... you have to stay out of regions where there's intolerance. this is kind of the recipe. and also-- - where westerners are not welcome--clearly not welcome. - yes, and where there's hatred against westerners, you have to be careful. there's dangers everywhere. there's dangers in large cities in north america, as there are

dangers in those countries. but, you know, the more and more i know people, the more and more i can tell you, people in general, they're good people. the viciousness, it exists, but it's not that hard to understand it takes a certain time to know the field. so, you know, my first trip to saudi was scary, and i now work in saudi, i have a company there, i feel very much at ease now. and they still have their... - their problems, obviously. - but we're not going there to do social life. we're going there to learn and create, and those countries are evolving very much, so i think the planet is... as thomas friedman said, "if the world is flat, it gets flatter every day". - yeah, and that's the way an engineer would see it. and

another thing that struck me is you went all over the world, and have done and continue to do things all over the world in areas where there's the danger-- we've just talked about that-- but people traditionally in business say, "hmm, hard to get paid, hard to get your money out. you get nationalized, there's upheavals, they pay you in their currency, their currency tanks". how have you dealt with all of that? - well, you know, it's like a complete re-education of ourselves. again, it's easier these days than it used to be like ten years ago, because our banks and institutions were not really ready for this, but it's also an expertise and a knowledge, okay? in the early days, somebody would offer us to work on a project. the first we do--you know, engineers have this tendency to look at the... i'm going to say a crazy word, but a lot of engineers have technical orgasms, and they jump

on a project and they want to "ah-ah-ah-ah", but the problem with this, the first question, is, who pays? how is the payment secured? and then the currency risk, and then how are you able to mitigate your risks? there are insurances that exists for this, like from the world bank, with miga, they exist for ex-im bank in the us, opec in the us, in canada there's edc. it's an expertise that you develop in time, and how you do your cash flows, how you ask for your advances, and all of it is done in such a way that you take into account the sensitivity of the people. so you don't today in one shot say, "i'm leaving north america and i'm going to negotiate a contract in algeria and i'm going to do it like we do it in the states". you cannot do that. but you can be safe in your payments and guarantee your payments through all these

mechanisms in a way that... we lost a little money, mostly in our beginnings, but now we age like this. - and you've been very successful, but i assume it is a business with big tickets, big contracts--very desirable contracts. is competition a problem? do you lose pitches and get bitter about it because you wanted it and somebody else go it? or is there room for everybody? - you know, when it's fair, we don't get bitter; when it's unfair, we get very bitter. and there are places where competition is very unfair, and the best thing to do is stay away from it, because you don't know what's going to happen to you. and it's not just the contract, the project; it's when you do the project. it's not necessarily dangerous, but there can be the problem of not getting the right data, or the data in time that they're supposed to supply, or... one day, i saw in a latin

american country a project that we had, and we did a wonderful job. everything was fine, but there was a last part to do, and they kind of told us we couldn't do it, we needed to hire people that work in their own departments to do it, and it was something that was worth at the time $20,000. they were asking us, like, $200,000. we solved it, but i can tell you, we're not going there again. - and when you are worldwide, is quality control difficult? how can you sit--like, you're here, you've got something in thailand, and they're working on it night and day. how can you be sure that they're doing it the way you want, and all over the world at the same time? - okay, once again, i guess the key to succeed in international markets it so find reliable, trustworthy, local partners, and i think that's an art, because you cannot come

in a country and develop this cultural sensitivity like that. it becomes like a way of referencing people, understanding people, and it's something that you do in many areas of life, okay, and when you have trustworthy people, you do not betray them, you do not play with them; you keep with them, and they will help you, they will guide you, they will stop you from getting hurt and being in trouble, and it's happening with me in saudi, it's happening with me in ue, it's happening with us in morocco and algeria and china. you build--it's a long-term thing all the time--you build a relationship and a trustworthy connection with these... they become your friends, they become your partners, and real partners. that's the key. the key is there. - well, bernard poulin, i can tell you're a doctor, because you're giving very good

advice. thank you very much. long life, and good luck. - thank you very much. - bernard poulin was our guest this week on entrepreneurs: the dobson series of the world show. that's our program for this week. have a great one. thanks. closed captioning by sette inc.