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International
food and
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On the job
Rabobank
Belgium's
liaison officer:
Tm here so their
business is
handled smoothly
and efficiently'
For the second year in suc
cession, the food and agri-
business research team
has produced an interna
tional calendar of notewor-
thy events in the sector.
The global calendar in-
cludes a host of sector-
related events worldwide
which could be of interest
to account managers at
foreign offices. Says Hans
Reusch of the research
team, 'the calendar aims
to inform Rabobankers at
all the offices of specific
food and agribusiness con-
gresses, trade fairs, sem
inars and exhibitions. But
even though it is fairly
comprehensive, we also
need input from people at
the foreign offices. We are
Continued from page 1.
The primary production planta-
tion is a joint project of Del
Monte and the Indonesian
Gunung Sewu Group, both of
which are 'very strong spon
sors', says Niek Streefkerk of
the APFT, which engineered the
venture for Rabobank. Gunung
Sewu is the third largestgrower
and canner of pineappies in the
INTERNATIONAL
Editorial staff
Stan Polman and Anne Laveile
(Editorial Department), Cees
van Rest and Brigitte van Kanten
(International Division).
Editorial address
Rabobank Nederland
Caroline Renette, editorial
assistant
P.O. Box 17100
NL 3500 HG Utrecht
Telephone +31 30 902083
Telefax +31 30 901904
Designed and printed by
Hoonte-Holland, Utrecht
looking for any additional data
they may have on events in their
region.' The calendar is avail-
able from the food and agribus
iness research team based in
Utrecht.
For copies, contact Slovenka
Ristic on +31 30 901178.
world and Del Monte is a major
trader in bananas and a wide
range of other fruits. The two
players joined forces because
Gunung Sewu was looking for
diversification, while Del Monte
can provide a strong global
brandname. Del Monte will also
be able to tap a low-cost source
to supply consumer markets in
Asia and the Middle East.
IFC has taken $9 million and
Rabobank will be providing the
other $7 million in what is an
unusual project for the bank.
'Rabobank's policy is to refrain
from financing primary produc
tion outside the Netherlands,'
says Streefkerk, 'but in view of
the very strong shareholders in
this venture, the executive
board and the credit committee
decided in favour of the agri-
project loan.'
In all probability, one or more
Rabobank foreign offices will
participate in the deal as the
APFT is essentially a service de-
partment and has no primary
interest in establishing its own
loan portfolio. 'I think our Sing
apore office will be closely in-
volved here as IFC policy dis-
allows the use of on-shore
banks in co-financing,' explains
Streefkerk. 'So the most logical
office, Rabobank Duta, would
not be eligible to participate in
this venture because of the
IFC's policy. However, Rabo
bank Duta could still benefit
from the transaction through
monitoring fees.'
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Brazil Daniël Rodrigues de Oli-
veira Araujo took up his posi-
tion as senior credit analyst on
January 15.
Singapore In August this year,
Patrick Guyver will be joining
the agri-project finance team
and will be based at Rabobank
Singapore. Guyver comes from
the UN's Food and Agriculture
Organization where he worked
as a consultant.
France Eliane Butel joined the
bank as executive secretary to
Issue 16/March 22, 1993
the administrative department
on February 1. On the same
date, receptionist/switchboard
operator Catherine Dionisi took
up her new position. Vinh
N'Guyen will be working at the
bank's general services de
partment on a temporary con
tract until May 6.
North America Paul Beiboer
has been appointed vice presi
dent corporate banking at the
New York office. Assistant vice
president Pieter Kodde will be
reinforcing the San Francisco
office's corporate banking ef-
fort.
Each individual foreign of
fice has its own liaison officer
in Utrecht. In a companion piece
to the 'Foreign office in focus'
series, Rabobank Belgium's
man on the spot, Ad Middel
burg, explains his coordinating
role.
'Each liaison officer usually
works for a number of offices,
so the Belgian operation is only
one of my responsibilities.
Rabobank Belgium is no longer
in its initial stages, it's a fully-
fledged office, so the type of
work I do for it is different from
the activities involved in, say,
the Madrid office, which is in a
very different phase of devel-
opment.
'The Antwerp office can call on
me for assistance in a wide range
of areas, such as dealing-room
limits. These limit proposals
are developed by the office it-
self, and have to be brought be-
fore the management commit
tee. I would then assist in their
processing by collecting and
providing additional information
at head office. So my role is
essentially as a kind of contact
point for the foreign branch
here in head office, so that
their business and their needs
are handled smoothly and ef
ficiently.
'My contacts with "my" foreign
offices cover a whole variety of
areas. As I said, I could be
dealing with the treasury, or it
could concern policy matters,
lending activities, investments,
or people from Antwerp who are
coming to Utrecht for any num
ber of reasons, such as cour-
ses or meetings. I'd be involved
in all of these activities.
'A further important part of my
liaison task is the periodic re-
porting each foreign office sub
mits every month. In Antwerp's
case, these come to me first.
We analyse them, examine and
evaluate the reports and we
then inform management about
their contents, especially if
there is something special of
very important going on.
'Another area where the liaison
officer is closely involved is the
annual business plan. This is
always developed in the third
quarter of the preceding year.
The plan has to be analyzed,
and discussed with both the
management team in Antwerp
and the management here in
Utrecht so that everyone has a
clear idea of the plan's aims.
'In a sense, you could compare
my job with that of an account
manager's relationship with a
cliënt - my basic task is to main-
tain continuity and smooth the
way for the foreign office here
in Utrecht. That's what it is all
about...'
