Our aim is to be where our
customers want us to be
The Singapore
branch is
growing
among 200
other banks
band
Since the early seventies, when Rabobank Nederland
L y m began its international operations, the organization
=i-r has capitalized on the specialized knowledge of agri-
£f I h business and commodity finance to further its activi-
ties in this field on a global scale and to be where our customers
want us to be.
Although there are some 200
banks of various nationalities in
Singapore alone, Rabobank is
slowly but surely making its
presence feit in this region by
its aggressive marketing and
perseverance.
Issue 3/April 5, 1989
In true pioneering spirit, Gijs van der
Schrieck, General Manager Far East
started the business of establishing
the presence of the Rabobank Group in
the Far East together with his fluently
Dutch speaking secretary Diane Gan, from
a suite in the Marco Polo Hotel, Singapore,
on 22 August 1985. In June 1986, the
bank established a full branch in Singa
pore and representative offices in Hong
ong and Jakarta. Robert R. Smit was the
first Deputy General Manager (with Secre
tary, Goh Wee Nee) now being succeeded
by Hans Stock as of August 1988. Today,
the Singapore Branch has 36 employees,
compared to 21 employees in June 1986
and boasts a Singapore dollars (S$)
l,500m balance sheet. On 1 January
1989, a new daughter was born in Singa
pore, Rabobank Asia Ltd, the merchant
bank arm of the bank in the Far East.
Challenges facing Rabobank In the
Far East when the bank started, the name
Rabobank was relatively unknown to corpo-
rations and the banking community
in general. Understandably, the name
'Rabobank' is not easily pronounced espe-
ciaily by Asian tongues (even by those of
our pioneer staff) and, jokingly, we were
called the 'Rambo Bank', 'Raybo Bank'
and even 'Rubber Bank'. After almost
three years of 'soft-sell', the bank is now
iown and more importantly recognized as
The general managers and representatives for
the Far East, except Sjouke Postma (Hong
Kong): Frederik Hoek (Rabobank Asia Ltd.),
Hans Stock (Singapore), Gijs van der Schrieck
(Far East), Jos van Boxel (Sydney) and Henk
Adams (Jakarta).
a large international bank seriously inter-
ested to assist Dutch related businesses.
The bank is also recognized as a major
agribusiness bank and generai expert on
all forms of bankable business. Most of
the staff of Rabobank Singapore is now
also able to recite correctly by heart the
full legal name of the bank - 'Coöperatieve
Centrale Raiffeisen-Boerenleenbank'!
Prospects 'The Far East' is experi-
encing very promising economie expan-
sion. Countries such as Singapore, Thai
land, Malaysia, Australia, Indonesia, China
and even the Phiiippines show high growth
rates. Consequently, developments in the
agro-industrial sectors in these countries
profit enormously. International companies
vying for first place in the many new oppor-
tunities led to highly qualified joint ven-
tures and therefore interesting business
prospects for the bank. Loyalty is impor
tant in this part of the world; as one cus-
tomer remarked during a signing ceremo-
ny: 'The mandate was given to you (lead
manager/agent) as you were one of our
most stable bankers for more than 20
years'.
With an environment recovering dra-
matically fast from an economie downturn
(1985-1987) and showing very good
growth also in the area of Rabobank's pri-
ority sector, we will further strengthen our
presence in the area. First of all, by im-
proving our know-how in various fields and
training specialist credit staff to further in-
crease their knowledge of agro-technology
and other products, also by expanding our
staff so that they will have adequate time
and opportunity to attend to our cus
tomers' business in any of the countries
under our responsibility. For example, as
Australia offers very good possibilities for
Rabobank, it was decided to locate an ac
count manager in Sydney to service the
Australian market. Sydney is a good seven
hours' flight from Singapore. Jos van Boxel,
previously the Senior Area Manager for
amongst others Australia and New
Zealand, is Rabobank's man in Sydney
from February on.
From a banking point of view, there are
ample opportunities to expand further. Nat-
urally, much will depend on what our cus
tomers do. Knowing that there are impres-
sive programmes of decentralization, dereg-
ulation and liberalization in countries such
as Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, there
will be a growing number of possibilities for
them. The offices in the Far East are primar-
ily to help them achieve their goals in this
region. To improve on our possible assis-
tance to them, Rabobank people are enter
ing into the local business communities in
the Asian countries and managing our credit
portfolio with success.
The Singapore branch is divided into
three departments. First we take a
look at the Operations department
headed by Mrs. Rose Quek. Although fre-
quently separated by thousands of miles,
the first voice that an overseas caller will
hear from the Singapore Branch is the
friendly voice of Sandra, the receptionist.
In fact the Operations department is run
by ladies only, except for one man, Yunos.
The department is divided into five sec-
tions. Running two of these sections is our
capable and efficiënt operations officer,
Shirley Ho. She heads both the settlement
and bills sections.
Settlement department is 'manned', by
Wai Miin - one of the pioneers in the bank
- and the vivacious Susie. Mind you, Susie
is one of the fittest girls in the bank. Fit
enough to walk up 73 storeys of Westin
Hotel, the tallest hotel in the world, in four-
teen minutes. Carol, who also conquered
Westin Hotel, is the remittance clerk. She
will be a blushing bride come May next and
Rowena, the bills clerk is the newest mem-
ber of the biils and remittance section. Lil-
ian, the junior bills officer, is an efficiënt
and friendly assistant to Shirley. She is
well liked by customers and is extremely
good in convincing customers to do things
the bank's way.
mm Working the computer and
'jf\ff generating tons of reports
PD is the team of four hard-
3a working ladies. Leading
CO the team is Julia, the ac-
H countant. She is assisted
by June - one of the quietest workers
Tock Joon - a pert and inventive worker -
and Valerie, a newcomer to the section.
The section that has the most new recruits
is the Loan Administration. This section
backs up not only the Credit Marketing
department, but also the merchant bank.
Share-financing processings, rollovers, etc.
are all part of their daily work. Soh Geok
Hoon, is the new loan administration offi
cer taking over the duties formerly per-
formed by Julia. Two additional staff will
be joining the section in the near future.
On administration, there is Oi Mei, de
partment secretary. She not only coordi-
