People 2 International Hong Kong goes Dutch ISSUE 25/24 JANUARY 1994 The International Division may not be aware of the fact, but for a few days at the end of last year, Rabobank actually had two Hong Kong branches. The high-profile, low-budget of fice (it was made of wood and occupied around two-by-two metres of the city's Piazza Kow- loon Park) was the bank's con- tribution to the Holland in Hong Kong promotion week organized by the Netherlands' consulate there. The 'branch' was staffed by the other Hong Kong office on a ro- tation basis and by a 20th-cen- tury 'Rembrandt'. Caricaturist Frans Mensink did fine trade as Rabobank's female staff sported traditional Dutch costume for photo opportunities. Around half a million people visited the Dutch village to see typical crafts, such as tile and wooden-shoe making, and sample cheeses and other products. However, the central attraction was definitely the life-size windmill which managed to withstand the gusts of hail and high winds of tropical storm IRA. Utrecht Hanno W.E. Riedlin joins the International Divi- sion's management team. Formally regional director of ABN/Amro's South-East Asia operations, his appointment is effective January 1. continued from page 1 here. Suffice it to say that many are historie and date back to the country's colonial past. However, Brazil became a republic in 1889 and subsequent government has not been successful in bringing about real change; for example, the first time Brazil's foreign debt was rescheduled was at the turn of the century. Yet, this century has not been all bad news for Brazil and its people. The country un- derwent a period of rapid indus- trialization and economie growth between the 1940s and 1970s, vastly improving living standards and causing it to be seen as an example of how emerging nations could develop. The real bad news came in the 1980s, when hyperinflation quickly turned into megainfla- tion and successive governments have proved miserably ineffective in addressing the problem. 'We have a historie inflation prob lem,' says Raibobank's Marcos da Silva Oliveira, 'and nothing gov ernment has done in the past dec ade has changed that. Since 1986, government has tried to combat inflation through economie shocks known as "plans". We've had the "Cruzado", the "Brazil", the "Collor" and countless others, but none had the political sup port necessary to be effective.' Oliveira says this almost matter- of-factly. Like all Brazilians, he has learnt to live with inflation and with incompetent, ineffec tive government. The enigma emerges here again - if Brazil is so badly governed, how come it is currently producing regular econ omie growth and has managed to pull itself some way out of the recession that has been and still is playing havoc with much more stable economies? Td say it's be- cause the Brazilians themselves are an enterprising people,' says general manager Teun de Boon. 'They are industrious, very in- clined and willing to work and in spite of everything, they never lose their sense of perspective.' This situation has led the priva te sector to take matters into their own hands. In most other economies, the development of services, Utilities and infrastruc- ture is the responsibility of government. In Brazil, the pri vate sector not only takes the in- itiative, but usually picks up the tab. Raibo's people can give countless examples of roads and even ports being laid on by pri vate companies to facilitate their business with no input from the 'responsible' authorities. And this entrepreneurial spirit is also apparent in other areas, particu- larly technologies designed to combat the adverse effects of Brazil's megainflation, which ranges between 1 and 2 percent per day; the country has one of the most sophisticated teleban- king systems in the world. But life remains tough for the majority of Brazilians. 'To all practical intents and purposes, this is a dollar-indexed econ- omy,' says De Boon. 'Whatever you buy or rent, for example your car, your apartment, all -prices are based on dollar con version, but you pay in local cur- rency.' This situation is now ac- cepted as normal by all Brazil ians, including the government which publishes conversion in dices every month. 'But,' De Boon explains, 'many working people, be they blue or white- collar workers, are not fully com- pensated or not compensated at all for the constant devaluation of their money. If they are lucky, then the index will give them a 20 or 25-percent increase per month, but often inflation can be 35 percent. So you see who pays the price. It's a pitiful situation, and the notion of asking the ma jority of Brazilians' to tighten their beits is obscene.' Yet that is what is going to have to happen if the inflation prob lem is to be beaten. What has saved the country from econ omie chaos and inertia in the past is the Brazilians energy. 'They are incredibly assertive and they are more than used to ad- justing to extremely harsh cir- cumstances,' De Boon believes. 'They do two jobs, their wives start working, and somehow they make ends meet.' One re- sult of this attitude is the size of the 'gray' sector in Brazil's econ- omy - around 45 percent over and above the official figures. 'If you add this to the official econ- omy, then you see that Brazil is third only to the US and Japan,' adds assistant general manager Willy Castanheira Henriques. And if the new purchasing power parity system advocated by the IMF is applied to classification, then Brazil becomes the third largest economy in the world. In fact, with an official GNP of US$450 to 500 billion (excluding the 'gray' sector), the country is a whole world in itself. And that is what both its people and Raibo- bank do Brasil are focussing on. But Brazil still carries the burden of a political community which is noted primarily for its corrup- tion and its lack of credibility. The Italians have had their pain- ful shake-up, is it now Brazil's turn? 'We're already in that process,' De Boon believes, 'but it's rather more subtle here. The president, Collor, was im- peached and the economy didn't even pause. Collor did a lot of good things. He opened up the Brazilian economy to the world. Unfortunately, he was too greedy. But what we've seen in the wake of that particular scandal is a hopeful thing; the economy goes on and the work goes on - in spite of rather than because of the poli- ticians. Brazil's GNP is growing healthily every year simply be cause the politicians are too busy squabbling among themselves and they're not fooling with the economy any more. I may be eternally optimistic about the future of this country, but I see certain positive developments that were not there before.' In a country with the sheer size and social and economie diver- sity of Brazil it is impossible to generalize about anything. Yet the sustained growth its people have achieved can only be good news for all Brazilians, rich and poor. And for the world's ex- porting communities as foreign trade with the nation of 150 mil lion consumers continues to grow apace.

Rabobank Bronnenarchief

blad 'Raboband International' (EN) | 1994 | | pagina 2