South-east Asia day
opens up
opportunities
Holland
in BRIEF
Agri-project
finance team
in profile
Milan move
+39 (0)2 8693000 (general);
+39 (0)2 72022202 (treasury);
Telefax:
+39 (0)2 8693005/
+39 (0)2 8693500
Rep office
Jakarta
discontinued
Looking
ahead
Rising sum
More in the money
The Russians
are coming
World (up
football revisited
Crime rise
Staff communication magazine for the RaHObANK'XjROuP
ISSUE 31/25 JULY 1994
The bank's four far-east general managers provided direct
advice and information to member-bank clients from the
Flevoland region at a combined seminar and working meeting
on doing business in South-east Asia.
What does the team do, where
and how? See page 3.
The Milan office has relocated
to new premises at
Via Albricci 8
20122 Milan
Telephone:
Now Rabobank Duta Indone-
sia is fully equipped and has
been able to recruit the re-
quired professional staff to
provide the full range of inter
national banking services, the
rep office's activities will be in-
corporated into its operations.
The discontinuation became
effective on June 30.
August 31: The bank co-hosts a
'business evening' with the
Dutch ministry of agriculture
to present the recently pub-
lished study on the interna
tional seed industry. Cor
Broekhuyse is the speaker at a
venue to be announced at a
later date.
September 12-16: Agri-trade
and trade finance account
managers annual meeting in
Utrecht.
October: The bank co-spon
sors the international dairy
fair, Intermopro, in Dussel-
dorf.
'This was a really fruitful in-
itiative,' says Hong Kong's
Henk Adams of the event organ-
ized by Flevoland's member
banks and Utrecht's Interna
tional Banking Services. 'Besides
the usual speeches on days like
this, clients were given the op-
tion of making an appointment
to speak to the person with special-
ized knowledge of the specific
country they were interested in.
I saw about 20 member-bank
clients who wanted advice on, for
example, import or export activ
ities, and although these discus-
sions haven't produced concrete
business for the bank as yet, we
were certainly able to point
clients in the right direction.
That means we've provided a
service that they seemed to ap-
preciate greatly.'
Almost 200 clients participated
in the info-day, many represent-
ing small and medium-sized busi-
nesses. The general managers
were supported by staff from the
country desks in Utrecht. 'A lot
of companies in Holland are very
interested in China,' says Sjouke
Postma. 'At least 15 clients want
ed information, primarily on
the problems they may encoun-
ter when doing business there.
My feeling is that such meetings
are really important because they
not only show we have built up a
lot of international expertise
which is also available to mem
ber-bank clients, but we are also
able to help them avoid prob
lems that could arise due to dif-
ferences in business culture and
so on. I'd like to see us organizing
this kind of event more often.'
This was the general consensus
among both organizers and par-
ticipants. So much so that plans
are currently in the pipeline for a
second info-day, this time focus
sing on South America. Accor-
ding to Cecelia Tidstrom of IBS,
no date has been slated yet, but
plans should be finalized by the
end of August.
Japanese investment in the
Netherlands rose by 50.4 percent
in the 12 months to 31 March
1994, with direct investment
totalling US$ 2.17 billion. The
Netherlands is a popular invest
ment destination for interna
tional corporations from both
the EU and other countries due
to its stable economy and sound
industrial relations.
A recent survey shows there are
around 80,000 millionaires in
Holland (total population 15
million). The millionaires' aver
age fortune is NLG 2.44 million,
while 15 percent of the popula
tion has an estate valued at over
NLG 165,000.
The Dutch Central Bank has
granted the first ever licence to a
Russian financial institution.
Bank Stolitsiny will open of-
ficially on Amsterdam's pres-
tigious Herengracht on Septem
ber 1.
Teams from all over the world
will be battling for another foot
ball world cup in the Dutch town
of Hoogeveen at the end of Au
gust. The mentally handicapped
world cup will be held from 20
August to September 1 and the
bank is the chief sponsor, con-
tributing NLG 40,000 to the
tournament.
Burglaries and vandalism are
major and expensive problems
for a majority of Dutch compa
nies. According to a recent sur
vey, almost 60 percent of com
panies have had break-ins in the
past few years. Almost half (45
percent) have suffered from van
dalism.
