Holland's foreign office
3 International
Speed
ISSUE 28/25 APRIL 1994
firmed it, and passed the information on to our
people in that office. Needless to say, they
didn't get into the deal.'
In structure, activities and approach it looks like any other foreign
operation. The only difference is that this particular 'foreign' office is
located in Rotterdam, a mere 40-minute drive from the bank's head
office. Rotterdam Rabobankers explain what they're doing there and
why their presence is essential to the rest of the network.
Dedicated
While Rotterdam sees its role in the whole
network as one of its primary tasks, it is also
dedicated to non-agrihusiness. 'If you look at
our mission statement,' says Van Rooij, 'you
see part of our brief is to strengthen our pos-
ition as profitable wholesale bank in this region.
Until very recently, our non-agri management
teams were divided into two groups, one fo
cussing on medium-sized companies with more
than 50 employees, and one targetting large
multinational companies. But we came to the
conclusion that this world has only a few very
large corporates, while the medium-sized mar-
ket is growing and expanding all the time. This
is an area where we perceived real growth po-
tential for the office here. So we thought it was
time to rethink our approach.'
For over 30 years, Rotterdam has held the
title of biggest port in the world. Almost 300
million tons of goods arrivé in the port every
year, and that figure is increasing annually as
more and more dedicated terminals are added
to its range of services. Agriproducts are of im
mense importance to the port, which generates
no less than 10 percent of the Netherlands'
GNP. More grain arrivés in Rotterdam than at
any other port worldwide. Fruit is another
major import commodity, and the port's dedi
cated terminals are able to process on site pro-
duce coming ff om all over the globe. Rotterdam
is also the world's leading peanut importer.
Agritrade hub
The port is a whole world in itself. In terms of
size, it is larger than most Dutch cities. People
working there and in related industries form a
close-knit community that is not easily access-
ible for outsiders. 'If you're not physically
present, then you miss out on a lot of infor
mation,' says GM Rob van Rooij. 'That's why
it's so important for the bank, and especially the
foreign offices, to have an operation here. And
once you're aware of the sheer volume and di-
versity of the agriproducts coming through the
port, then perhaps the reason we're here be-
comes even clearer. Rotterdam is not only the
biggest, it is also the most important interna
tional agritrade hub in the world. Part of our
job is providing on-the-spot support to other
offices in the foreign network so we form a real
link in the flow of international agritrade.
Essentially, we're here because the port is here.'
Networking
The Rotterdam office is in constant touch with
the other offices in the foreign network. 'We
have joint clients with almost all the foreign of
fices,' explains Paul Dekker, the food and agri-
business and trade finance team leader. 'That's
why constant inter-network communication is
imperative. We have to exchange information
continually on the status of clients, deals, ship-
ments and so on, so that we can take care of
clients' needs at this end. Some foreign clients
have their own offices here, others don't, so we
often act as their representative - it's all part of
the networking we've set up with the other of
fices.'
'On the face of it, it's simply a question of one
of the foreign offices providing the pre-export
facilities,' says Jan van Ende of trade finance,
'and us doing the documents when the ship-
ment arrivés here. Documents have to be pro-
cessed within 48 hours and we even have some-
one who spends most of his time ferrying them
around to the various authorities. Speed is of
the essence here because many of the cargoes
are perishable, so you have to get the docu-
mentary side of things done very quickly in
deed. But there is a lot more to it than that.'
Information
Besides speed, indepth knowledge not only of
local business environment in the port, but of
all the companies in the chain, ff om supplier to
end user, is essential. 'Because we're very active
in the port, you piek up on things,' says Dek
ker. 'Just last week, one of the foreign offices
called and said they'd been offered a deal on an
agri-shipment that had already arrived in the
port. They wanted to know ifwe knew anything
about it. As it turned out, we had heard half the
cargo was rotten. We checked that out, con-
Market penetration
This rethinking led to the merging of the two ac
count management teams into a single entity
which comprises a wide range of expertise and
is geared to flexible response. 'This doesn't mean
we won't be concentrating on the large cor
porates any more,' says account manager Jan
Reus. 'We now have a high level of penetration
in that sector and it took a lot of hard work to
achieve that. What we want to do now is im-
prove returns.' Co-worker Ellen Meijer explains
they began market research on medium-sized
businesses in the region two years ago. 'It's a
market with great potential and the initial leg-
work we put in is now paying off. Rotterdam is
probably unique in the fact that geographic
proximity, in other words being here in the city,
plays a real role in bank-client relations. At first,
before a cliënt knew us well, we would offer one
product. Now, the emphasis has shiffed to a
more varied package. 'We can actually offer
clients any product in the Rabobank range,'
confirms Van Rooij. 'We don't necessarily have
all the required expertise in-house - we have a
staff of only 35, so that would be impossible.
But what we don't have here, we buy in from
Utrecht. It doesn't make any difference to the
cliënt where it's coming from as long as he is
getting what he needs efficiently and at the right
price.
Hard work
There are a lot of sayings about Rotterdam - al
most all related to the notion that its people
work much harder than anyone else in the
Netherlands. 'Rotterdammers are bom with
their sleeves already rolled up for work', 'The
money is made in Rotterdam and spent in The
Hague'. Whether they work harder or not is
debatable, of course, but it is certainly true that
Rotterdam and its environs are like no other
place in this country. The city itself is a start-
ling hommage to modem architecture - no cute
canals, windmills or tulips here. The daring
contemporary buildings and imposing sculp-
ture are a strrking visual reminder that this is
the world's greatest port, and that it fully in-
tends to retain that title for a long time to come.
It is an aggressive city in the best sense of the
word, and in a way that makes it very different
from the rest of the otherwise rather staid and
solid country. Perhaps Rotterdam is a foreign
office after all.