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.

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blad 'Raboband International' (EN) | 1988 | | pagina 2