eaDo
Shipping news
All sewn up
Milan carries off new
agri-deal award
Antwerp's new look
Issue 22/0ctober 18, 1993 band
Doing business in Brazil can be
hampered by the super-inflationary
state of the national economy. Every
day that passes can mean original ex
port contracts lose great chunks of
their value as the payments machinery
of normal banking grinds slowly on.
Aware that many of its international
clients were confronted with this pro-
blem, Raibo has developed a system of
payments, 'Raibodoc', that can limit
inflation-generated losses.
'Essentially, Raibodoc is a cash against
documents system,' explains Geórgia
Tiemi Tomia. 'What we have done is
speed up payments to our exporting
clients by increasing the efficiency of hand-
ling shipping documents. Let me give you an
example. Singapore has a cliënt who is im-
porting Brazilian goods. Based on an agree-
ment between the seller (exporter) and the
buyer (importer), the original shipping docu
ments are placed in our custody here at the
bank in Sao Paolo along with the relevant
payment instructions. We verify the docu
ments and copies and payment instructions
are faxed to the buyer, who subsequently
pays for the shipment. Once the seller has
received payment confirmation, he instructs
Geórgia Tomita - expanding Raibodoc
us to dispatch the original shipping docu
ments to the buyer. We have managed to re-
duce the time needed for all these different
transactions to 48 hours.'
For Rabo-clients, the new system represents
a real speed-up of handling and is now
forming an alternative to a Standard L/C
transaction. Raibo began using the system
for Brazilian-Dutch trade. 'However,' says
Tomita, 'we recently sent through our first
Raibodoc transaction to Singapore and l'm
convinced it could also be useful for other of
fices.'
Continued from page 1.
volution in the packaging industry. Environ-
mental lobbies have pushed for dairy packag
ing in glass rather than carton or plastic. To
day, over 30 percent of German milk comes
in bottles. However, the question of whether
glass is more environmentally friendly than other
forms of packaging is a moot point among
manufacturers of both. The German politi-
cians were described by participants as short-
sighted during the seminar'sfinal discussion.
'The whole seminar was an educational and
stimulating experience,' says Egger, 'the at-
tendance was gratifying, and everyone con-
sidered it a real success.' This is illustrated
by the fact that plans are now being made to
turn a Rabobank Deutschland-organized food
and agribusiness seminar into an annual
event.
Q
•92
Stitches in time - this 'New York Beauty' quilt
measuring 1.70 by 2.20 metres was pro-
bablypieced around 1860. A combination of
forest green, red and orange, it is so com
plex the maker must have been an expert.
The decor of the New York office's newly
opened additional floor patches into two long
traditions - the bank's history of acquiring and
sponsoring the arts and a recognition of the
centuries-old American art of quilt-making.
A number of large patch-work quilts and a num-
ber of small Amish crib covers were chosen to
adorn New York's new office space. 'It was a
real group effort,' says Debbie Davis who
made the final selection with Ed de Rosa and
Steve Piccininni. 'Not only are the quilts, which
were hand-stitched in farming communities in
the late 19th and early 20th centures, a re-
flection of our agribusiness focus, they're also
an economical form of decoration.' The new
floor has been in use since early July and hous-
es the operations and administration de-
pa rtments.
Dohfl Editorial staff
"<|£l|u!U stan Polman and Anne Lavelle
(Editorial Department), Cees van
19IIII Rest and Brigitte van Kanten (In-
UIIIIU ternational Division).
INTERNATIONAL
Editorial address
Rabobank Nederland, Caroline Renette, editorial as-
sistant, UC-R 514 P.O. Box 17100, NL 3500 HG
Utrecht, Telephone +3130 902083, Telefax +3130
901904
Designed and printed by Hoonte-Holland, Utrecht
Account manager Mauro Bambacigno
of Rabofin Italia was the first recipiënt of a
newly created award for the best agri-deal
of the year.
Before the recent account managers' annul
meeting general managers were invited to
nominate deals closed by their office. These
deals were evaluated on four criteria, of
which the following are the most significant:
innovative and profitable and use of Rabo-
bank's international network.
'The Parmalat deal engineered by Bamba
cigno in close collaboration with the New
York office fitted the award criteria perfect-
ly,' says Hans Reusch, who organizes the AM
annual meeting. 'It was particularly satis-
fying because it was a dairy deal.' This year,
1993, was officially designated dairy year by
the bank. The aim of specific product focus
is to improve the bank's overall perform
ance in particular argi-sectors. 'Our target is
20 percent,' says Reusch, 'and it was gra
tifying to see that we achieved 18 percent
globally in the dairy sector.'
Safe places - Antwerp's new secure re
ception area
Saying cheese - Milan's Mauro Bamba
cigno
'l'm delighted,' was Bambacigno's reaction
to the award. 'This particular deal was a
real example of how networking actually
works. New York picked up on the opportuni-
ty and passed it on to us in Milan. We then
worked together with the people in New York
to tie it up. Parmalat, which is the biggest
Italian-owned dairy company in the country,
is in the process of internationalizing its
operations. Not only did we do some inte-
resting international business here, but we
have also gained a very big new cliënt.'
Following substantial reconstruction, re-
novation and refurbishment of the bank's
premises two years ago, the Antwerp office
now has a new lobby to match.
'The lobby is like your visiting card,' says op
erations manager Albert Coenen. 'So it was
important to create an attractive and efficiënt
ambience. In addition, we needed improved
security at ground-floor level. The result, which
took just six weeks to complete, is an enhanced
lobby with not only a secure teller's office but
also two conference rooms where we can
meet clients in a state-of-the-art environment.'