m
Raho
band
BRIEF
Rabobank Football Tournament
becomes more international
From the editorial
staff
London Branch
visits the
Netherlands
Rabobank
introducés Export
Guarantee Italy
Issue 2/September 23, 1988
Continued from page 1.
'America ranks sixth as an ex
port country for the Nether-
lands.' The importance of that
was reflected in the great in
terest in the meeting. Some
300 visitors, who are actively
doing business with the USA
or are interested in this, were
presented with a programme
that was not confined to finan-
cial and commercial aspects.
Attention was also paid to the
cultural differences between
Americans and Europeans, for
as Mr. Klarenbeek said: 'Some-
times we will have to adapt
our behaviour in the business
sphere to the American way
of doing business.'
Under the chairmanship of the
general manager of the Inter
national Division, Henk Visser,
four speakers poured out a
vast quantity of facts, tips and
recommendations for the
benefit of the audience. The
first speaker was the General
Manager of Rabobank Neder-
land's office in New York,
Hugo Steensma. He had flown
over from New York to give his
'clients' in the Netherlands a
better understanding of one of
the tasks of his office, namely
to assist in their activities in
the USA. He mentioned sev-
eral aspects which are impor
tant when exporting from the
Netherlands, such as the de-
mands to be met by a product
and the very specific matters
that erop up on the American
market.
A checklist consisting of valu-
able hints and warnings was
produced by the Director of the
American Chamber of Com-
merce in the Netherlands, Mr.
J.J. van Steenbergen, and
Dean Strausl of European
Semiconductor Assembly. A
practical situation was out-
lined by J.A.W. van der Duyn,
an entrepreneur who does
business with the United
States himself. He is the Di
rector of Star Dried Flowers,
a company that currently ex-
ports its products to the USA.
Mr. van der Duyn: 'Doing busi
ness with the Americans can
present a great challenge, but
it calls for a selective policy,
personal effort and an extreme-
ly commercial approach. You
also need a great deal of perse-
verance and twice as much
money as you had imagined.'
In addition to Mr. Steensma,
Bert Wiss, the Dutch Desk
Manager of the New York
branch, was present at the
meeting with the Dutch busi-
nessmen. He also met busi-
nessmen in personal talks at
two consulting days at the
head office in Utrecht.
The annual Rabobank Foot
ball Tournament was held at
two locations in the Nether
lands at the end of May. The
Antwerp Branch (Belgium) has
been one of the participants
for several years now. This
year a team from the London
Branch took part in this tour
nament for the first time. As a
resuit, this event is becoming
increasingly international in
character.
There are always so many par
ticipants in the Rabobank
Footbali Tournament that it
has to be held at two sports
complexes in the Netherlands.
In Nieuwegein, a town near
Utrecht, and in Valkenswaard
in the neighbourhood of Eind
hoven the teams play on no
fewer than 26 footbali fields.
This year a totai of 150 teams
had entered for the cham-
pionship, with elevens from
local Rabobanks, Rabobank
Nederland and affiliated insti-
tutions taking part.
The teams from the Antwerp
and London Branches played
excellent football. The men
from London brought along a
large crowd of supporters but
in spite of that backing this en-
thusiastic eleven did not man
age to end up as the winner in
their group. As a resuit, they
were not placed for the final
rounds. The team from the
Antwerp Branch also played a
good game of football but had
to settle for the same resuit.
In the end, there were two win
ners: in Nieuwegein, a team
from the Payments Department
of Rabobank Nederland and in
Valkenswaard the eleven from
the local Rabobank. The final
was played a few weeks later.
On that occasion the players
from Rabobank Nederland had
to admit defeat by the eleven
from the Valkenswaard Rabo
bank, which thus became the
Rabobank champion of the
Netherlands.
You are now reading the
second edition of Raboband
International, the English lan-
guage edition of Raboband,
the Rabobank Group's staff
communication magazine in
the Netherlands.
The first number, which ap-
peared in April, appealed to
the readers. Rabobank em
ployees outside the Nether
lands let the editorial staff
know they were satisfied with
.the magazine. But it proved
that the Dutch Rabobank em
ployees, all 32,000 of whom
had received the publication,
were also very interested. The
link between the Netherlands
and the rest of the Rabobank
world will be strengthened as a
resuit. If you have any hints,
comments, or items of interest
to report, please get in touch
with the correspondent in your
own branch or with the editorial
staff in the Netherlands.
Several dozens of employ
ees of the London Branch
paid a visit to the Nether
lands, together with their
partners. Among their various
activities they took part in the
Rabobank Football Tourna-
For the Netherlands Italy
is a major trading partner.
Many Dutch enterprises ex
port their goods to this coun
try. Exporting to Italy has,
however, one major disadvan-
tage: Italian payment meth-
ods. In Italy it is common
practice to pay bills only two
or three months after receiv-
ing them. And even this term
is frequently exceeded. In an
effort to overcome problems
of this kind Rabobank has
made the following special ar
rangement with the major Ital
ian banks. Italian importers
request their banks to issue
payment bonds in favour of
Dutch exporters. This is done
in the form of a condensed
Standard bank guarantee. Tl>
Rabobank Export Guarantee
Italy gives the exporter maxi
mum security that his invoice
will be paid at the due date. If
the Italian importer fails to
pay the invoice when due, the
exporter can request payment
from Rabobank. Within six
business days Rabobank ef-
fects payment. In addition, the
exporter receives an interest
payment over the period fol
lowing the invoice due date.
ment. On the last day of their
three-day visit they were
shown round at the Head Of
fice in Utrecht. They were
also given the opportunity to
meet colleagues with whom
they maintain frequent tele
phone contact. What strucK
us was their reaction to
things that are quite common-
place in the Netherlands.
They were most surprised at
the radios providing back
ground music during work in
some of the departments
they visited.