Tunisia - opportunities for trade Holland in BRIEF Staff communication magazine for the Rabobank Grou Foreign office in Holland Private banking reorganization Bank of Thailand approval Looking ahead Green incentives Mortgage interest Place in the sun Home work ISSUE 28/25 APRIL 1994 Following the bank's highly successful participation in a top level trade mission to the North African country in January this year, the international division organized an informative seminar on April 7. Tunisian Minister of International Cooperation and Foreign Invest- ments Ghannouchi (photo) was among the VIPs who attended the conference which was designed to stimulate trade between the two countries and open up new opportunities for the bank. The Rotterdam office occupies a very special place in the inter national network. Raboband calls on the bank's operation in the biggest port in the world. See page 3. Thomas van Rijckevorsel explains the new structure for inter national private banking. See page 4. The bank has received formal ap proval for its projected activities in Thailand from the Central Bank there. A representative has still to be appointed. The Curacao office will be open- ed officially on May 13 by chair- man Herman Wijffels. May 10 marks Raibo do Brasil's fifth anniversary. Treasurers will hold their annual meeting in Utrecht on May 29 to 31. The General Managers' yearly conference is scheduled for the first week in June. June 24 has been slated for an international meeting of the agri-project fi- nance team. The agri-trade account man agers' meeting will be held on September 11. At the end of May the U.S. Agri- business Advisory Board will meet in Brussels. Mayor discus sion items will be trade relations with Eastern Europe and the consequences of the GATT agreement. 'The idea to hold the seminar was a direct result of the high profile visit we made to Tunisia at the beginning of the year,' says Shafiq Gabr, head of interna tional trade finance. 'The trade mission itself got a lot of local media coverage, but the bank was actually praised for promo ting international trade.' The Tunisian response to the idea of a seminar in Utrecht was equally favourable. Not only a Minister, but also the ambassa- dor were among the 85 partici- pants, mainly from Dutch and Tunisian companies. 'There was a presentation from the Minister on economie development in Tunisia,' says Gabr, 'and impor- tantly, he also outlined new fiscal legislation which will make in- vestment in and cooperation with Tunisian companies much more attractive. He also discussed new proposals for the repa- triation of earnings, which clear- ly indicates the Tunisians mean business when it comes to at- tracting foreign investment.' The seminar was designed to use the time available as efficiently as possible. 'Two other presenta- tions, one on the bank's role in providing financial support for, activity in Tunisia and a video on industrial capital goods, were followed by focussed work shops,' says Gabr. 'Basically, the participants can be divided into three sectors - agriculture, horti- culture and capital goods. So we organized three workshops on those themes.' Tunisia's main agri-exports are olives, olive oil and fertilizers. Im- ports from Holland cover dairy cattle and foodstuffs, according to area manager I. Cambridge. It is an extremely interesting country for capital goods manufacturers as many companies there are currently in the process, or are about to begin, modernizing their plant. 'The bank already has a role in financing Tunisian agri- exports and imports,' says Gabr, 'but there are also a lot of other opportunities there, both for us and for our clients.' Dutch parliament has proposed fiscal benefits for investors and savers who put their money into 'green' accounts or equities. The money invested will then be used to finance environmentally friendly projects, and accrued in terest or dividends will be subject to additional tax exemptions. Rabobank's recent announce- ment of increased mortgage inte rest rates led to a run on the bank's home-buyers' services. In the space of one week, a record NLG 5 billion was lent to clients who opted primarily for fixed in terest rate mortgages over 10 or 15 years. Following a particularly cold and miserable winter, the member bank in Vinkeveen came up with a hot incentive to attract early holiday bookings. Clients who booked their summer vacations before the end of March received a discount on sun bed treatments at the beauty salon across the street from the bank. AU member banks opened their doors on Saturday, April 16, as part of a special action to inform clients on all aspects of home ownership. The open day was the highlight of a two-month long drive to increase public awareness of the bank's services, but addi tional information was also pro- vided on related topics, such as the role of lawyers, surveyors and architects.

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blad 'Raboband International' (EN) | 1994 | | pagina 1