What's Nf.wS Issue 3 March 1996
latin america
13
dealing with abstract concepts like
goodwill,' Greenberg says. 'But I think it
is significant that a number of people
appear to have changed their vacation
plans - January is the high season for
holidays here - in order to be able to meet
with the Board.'
Argentina: Visit to oil seed crush plant in
construction
continue to take, note of the fact we were
received by President Carlos Menem and
Finance Minister Domingo Cavallo. Such
joint meetings with foreigners are rare. I'd
say the fact that the meeting lasted 40
minutes, which surprised me, underlines
the emerging importance of Rabobank for
^^|ie Argentine agroindustrial sector.'
PREMIER BANK
If Greenberg and his team were surprised
by the lengthy presidential meeting, they
were more than satisfied by customer
responses to the visit. A tour of one of
Argentina's most impressive agroindustrial
fixed assets, Terminal 6, which shipped
3.2 million tons of grams and oilseeds last
year, brought together the Board and
CEOs of clients such as Buyatti, General
Deheza, Guipeba and Terminal 6 itself. A
subsequent visit to beef slaughter and
processor CEPA led company owner Terry
Moche to suggest Rabobank was already
the premier agroindustrial bank in
Argentina.
RELATIONSHIP APPRECIATION
||^he Board was able to follow up its
terminal 6 meeting with the General
Deheza CEO Roberto Urquia during a
visit to this top oilseed company. 'We were
delighted to hear CEO Urquia describe
CHILE - CLOSER TIES
Client meetings were also a high priority
in the Board's Chilean sojourn.
Rabobank has been active in Chile since
April 1994 and, as in the other countries
on the tour, one of the Board's primary
aims was to gain a better understanding
of the country and its economy. 'We'd
been specifically requested to arrange
cliënt meetings,' says representative
Ronald Blok. 'A board member
and shareholder in the
Pathfinder Group (Chile's
largest agribusiness
investment
company), Mr
Felix
Bacigalupo,
hosted a
dinner for our
Board at his
home. He had
invited a number
of top people,
including Pathfinder
president Marco
Cariola, who actually
called me later at my
home to thank us for the
opportunity of meeting our
Board. He was very impressed
by the visit and said he feit it had
definitely strengthened ties between
Pathfinder and Rabobank.'
IMMEDIATE RESULTS
Other cliënt visits included the Matte
Group and two Pathfinder-controlled
agribusiness companies, IANSA and
MASISA. 'These are both prime clients in
Chile,' Blok explains. 'MASISA was
especially interesting for the Board as they
have just started up a new plant for the
production of MDF, a new form of
partiele board, financed by Rabobank.
But all of our clients highly appreciated
meeting our top management, not least
because they believe it shows real
commitment to food and agribusiness.'
The meeting with Nutreco Chile and
pulp-mill Celulosa del Pacifico actually
produced immediate results. 'We've
already received an invitation front
Nutreco to start a commercial
relationship soonest and a request from
Celulosa to assist in refinancing USD 100
million medium-term loans,' confirms
Blok.
O Brazil
O Argentina
O Chile
O Cura^ao
Rabobank
Argentina as the
company's house
bank,' says
Greenberg. 'We've put a
great deal of effort in developing
this sector, so it was great to have our
efforts recognized in this way. At Cargill,
senior managers also expressed
appreciation of the bank's relationship
approach and agri-expertise.'
MUTUAL GOODWILL
The cliënt meetings organized by our
people in Buenos Aires meant the Board
met a group of companies which
represented 66 percent of the Argentina
operation's total direct interest and fee
income in 1995. 'Measuring the success of
such visits is difficult, because you're
