People
2 International
Jungle adventure
-
New food and agri
group for London
Poland - doublé bill
ISSUE 29/25 MAY 1994
Australia Josephine Coed has
joined the Sydney office as cor-
portate banking/treasury secre-
tary.
France Senior account manager
corporate finance Dominique
Lachaut has left the bank.
Hungary Dominic Terberg joins
the Budapest rep office as senior
account manager.
Italy V alantina Petriciuolo, cre
dit analyst in Milan, has left the
bank.
North America Karen Boyer
joins the bank's credit depart-
rnent as vice president, senior
financial analyst and will be
reporting to Moyeen Lagman.
Boyer took up her appointment
on April 11. She comes to the
New York office from Security
Pacific National Bank. For several
years previous to joining the
bank on April 11Ron Little was
with First Chicago Corporation.
He has been appointed senior
credit person reporting to Tom
Stevens and will be working in
the Chicago office when it opens.
Eelko Bronkhorst will also be
reporting to Tom Stevens. He
comes to the bank as vice presi
dent, account manager from
ABN Amro in the Netherlands.
Spain Popular Rabobank in
Madrid has appointed Ignacio
Gorrotiza as junior account
manager. Patricia Verdu joins
the operations department. Óper-
ations manager Jesus Pizarroso
has left the bank.
Utrecht Judith van Lomwei
(photo) becomes Hanno Reid-
lin's secretary as of June 1. She
takes over from Shirin Mazaheri
who has a newjob with Commu
nications and PR. Judith has
been secretary to the foreign of
fices department for the past four
years and she is succeeded by
Lenna Harbers who comes firom
trade and industry account man
agement in the corporate bank
ing division. Former trainee Lex
Dekkema has been appointed
FOD officer.
Before leaving the Far East for
a new appointment in
Germany, Anton Nillesen
realized a long-held dream.
With Henk Adams, he trekked
into the Baliem Volley in Irian
Jaya, one of Indonesia's
numerous and least explored
islands and perhaps better
known as New Guinea. Our
intrepid explorers report.
'The Baliem valley was only "dis-
covered" by westerners in 1938,'
says Nillesen. 'There is little tou-
rism and simply getting there
takes a lot of organization. From
Jakarta we took a six-hour do-
mestic flight to Jaya Pura (for-
merly Hollandia) on Irian Jaya's
north coast. Then we had a fur-
ther one-hour flight south into
the interior. There are no roads
connecting the valley, so all sup-
plies have to be flown in.'
Says Adams: 'Our first job when
we got there was to find a guide,
porters and a cook before setting
offon our three-day hike through
the breath-takingly unspoilt val
ley of the former headhunting
Dani people. Today, they live
peacefully, breeding pigs and
growing sweet potatoes.'
'Our days began at sunrise,'
Nillesen picks up the tale. 'After
bathing in a river, breakfasting
on rice and potato soup, we
would soon be hitting the really
tough trail. Our route meant
clambering up mountains, stum-
bling over giant stones and rocks,
crossing rivers by makeshift log
steps, and balancing our way
across flimsy suspension bridges.
But it was the most amazing trip
either of us had ever made.'
Adams and Nillesen in
search of a headhunter -
he's the one in the middle
'We arrived back sunburnt, blis-
tered and five kilos lighter,' con-
firms Adams. 'But it was worth
it. I suppose this kind of thing is
really a once in a life time trip,
but we've decided to try to get
back there next year for a longer
trek.
Just think - no TV, no radio, no
phones - just the beauty of the
valley and the hospitable curios-
ity of the Dani people.'
A fourth account management
team has been making its
presence feit in the London
branch's banking division
since early 1994. The Food and
Agri Group is now up and
running and is about to book
its first deals.
Historically, the London branch
has focussed on the larger
corporates in Rabobank's prime
food and agri sector, but will
now bring the bank's expertise
and perceived market advantages
to UK middle-market names.
The team is led by Ab Gillhaus,
ably assisted by account manager
Andrew Aitken and secretary Sue
Robinson. As business picks up,
another account officer will be
recruited later in the year.
The Food and Agri Group's tar
get market consists of companies
in England and Wales with sales
of between £15 and 200 million.
An initial list of 200 companies
has been drawn up, covering five
core sectors - dairy and eggs, me-
at and fish, fresh produce, farm
inputs and supplies, and general
food companies. Initially, the
focus will be on dairy and fresh
produce, following Utrecht's
emphasis. Gillhaus comments:
'These companies typically have
a very small bank group, and
even only one bank relationship.
Clearly a bank with a specialist's
understanding of their business
can add real value.' The London
branch team has developed de-
tailed knowledge of specific
products and problems relevant
to the sector.
The focus will be very much on
new business. Gillhaus sees con-
siderable potential for the team
to develop business, both in
terms of new customers for the
bank and new tailor-made
products, such as stock finan-
cing and Intervention Board
Guarantee related business. The
team has already identified its
prime prospects, visited a num-
ber of them, and is now looking
forward to a busy and produc-
tive year.
So many participants
registered for the
Europartenariat Poland
seminar organized by the
bank in preparation for the
trade fair to be held in
Gdynia in June that the
half-day morning program
had to be repeated in the
afternoon.
Poland is one of the most stable
former communist bloc coun-
tries. It is already an associate
member of the European Union
Poland's ambassador
Dr Franciszek Morawski
waits to speak
and a full member of GATT.
Since reforms were introduced
in 1990, the Poles have achieved
a clear improvement in GNP (5
percent in 1993). In 1989, less
than 20 percent of international
trade was carried on by the pri
vate sector; that percentage is
now 60. These are only some of
the reasons why Poland attracts
such great interest abroad. Last
year, around 13,000 companies
worked with foreign capital and
total foreign investment reached
almost US$ 5.5 billion.
Anyone interested in participat-
ing in the Europartenariat trade
fair in Gdynia on June 9 and 10
should contact Dutch Centre for
Trade Promotion in The Hague,
telefax: +31 70 3853531.
