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.