Vision 1994 in Antwerp
Holland
Staff communication magazine for the Rabobank Group
Curcicao special
China
reviewed
Sydney merchant
bank opens
Malaysia
appointment
Looking ahead
in BRIEF
Opening hours
Laura revamp
Flood damage
ISSUE 26/21 FEBRUARY 1994
The international division's
oldest office in focus on page 3.
The bank has been discussing a
joint venture with the Agricul-
tural Bank of China from some
time. However, over time both
partners' strategie objectives
have undergone shifts. 'We have
now decided to examine other
options and are currently
looking at the possibility of a re-
presentative office in Shanghai,'
says Maus Barendrecht, 'We will
have a presence in China, but are
still in the process of defining
how we approach this immense-
ly important market.'
The upgraded Australian oper-
ation was officially opened by
Henk Visser on February 10. A
report on the Sydney office's new
activities will appear in the next
issue.
Klaas-Jan Evertsen will begin the
bank's representative office in
Kuala Lumpur on June 1He will
be reporting to Singapore. As yet,
no appointment has been made
in Thailand.
A world conference on the fresh
and processed fruit sector will be
co-hosted by Rabobank and the
Port of Rotterdam in that city on
March 10.
The Antwerp presentation was
something of an experiment. The
concept of bringing top spokes-
people from the bank, in this case
Arthur Arnold and Wim van den
Goorbergh, to events of this kind
is relatively new. But, following
the success of this initial meeting,
plans are being developed to hold
similar events at other foreign
offices.
Chaired by GM Frans van Bijs-
terveld, the meeting attracted
around 50 clients who heard Van
den Goorbergh outline the bank's
view of what it expects will hap
pen over the coming year. Says
Van Bijsterveld: 'We can't predict
the future, be we can make an
educated forecast, based on our
experience.'
During the lively question and
answer period, clients asked
pointed questions on Rabobank's
perception of the troubled Bel-
gian economy. They weren't dis-
appointed. According to Van den
Goorbergh, ifthe Belgian govern-
ment cannot gain consensus on
its so-called 'crisis plan', then the
Belgian frank, untü last year one
of the strongest EMS currencies,
maybefacinga 1 O-percent deval-
uation. His answer made head
lines. The striking aspect of the
clients' questions and remarks
was the exasperation expressed at
their government's apparent fail-
ure to address structural social
problems. The bank agrees that
this is a root cause of many of the
difficulties confronting numer-
ous European economies. 'Rabo
bank has confirmed what we've
been thinking,' said one cliënt
from the construction sector after
the presentation. 'It's good to
know your bank shares your
view.'
A steel trader took issue with one
of Arnold's remarks: 'He said
traders tended to take more risks
than other sectors, but I don't
agree. We're always covered, it's
Standard practice.' Like many of
the other clients, he said he bank-
ed with Rabobank because of ex-
tremely competitive pricing and
personal contacts with account
managers. 'It's very useful to come
to events like this,' added a wheat-
flour dealer. 'You read the papers
and you try to keep up to date,
but it helps to hear a concise over-
view of what is happening, even if
you don't agree with everything
that's said. It gives you something
to think about.'
Following a survey on the quali-
ty of cliënt service, the member
bank in Houten has decided to
change its opening hours. For a
trial one-year period from April
1, the bank will remain open un-
til 17.30 from Monday to Thurs-
day and until 19.00 on Fridays.
The bank believes the changed
opening times will prove very
convenient for customers, espec-
ially commuters.
The Laura automation project is
to be adjusted. Originally, OS/2
had been selected for the nation-
wide system, this will now be re-
placed by DOS/Windows. The
difficulty with OS/2 is that build
ing new systems is a time-con-
suming and costly business. It
now appears that developments
in software applications are so
rapid that many of the packages
used by banks are already avail-
able off the shelf. The adjusted
approach will focus on develop-
ing a growth model, rather than
a complete new system.
The flooding that hit large areas
of Germany, Belgium, France
and the southern Netherlands
caused no less than NLG 100
million worth of damage in this
country alone. A national appeal
has been launched to assist the
victims, many of whom lost not
only their homes, but everything
in them. According to the Roer
mond region's deputy director,
Buiting, initial estimates put
damage at local member banks
at around NLG 2 million.
HHH
The presentation of Rabobank's Vision 94 for the Antwerp
office's clients was a major success in more ways than one.
The bank's forecasts on the Belgian economy actually made
headlines in national dailies there and clients agreed this was
an ideal way to cement relations between bank and customer.
