WHAT'S NEWS Issue 6 June 1996
international expansion
5
COOPERATIVE COOPERATION
Pïhe offical opening of Rabo-BRP was a busy
time for the bank. In addition to the
ceremonial side of launching the new joint
venture, Rik van Slingelandt also signed a
number of cooperation agreements with
Polish cooperative banks on behalf of
Rabobank.The cooperative banking
movement in Poland has a long history - it
emerged 135 years ago. Rabobank will be
making available know-how and human
resources to four regional cooperative
banks, a project which will be coordinated
by RIAS. 'There are two reasons for pursuing
this kind of cooperation with regional
cooperative banks in developing
economies, and specifically in Poland/ says
RIAS'Ap Mensink.'Thefirst is because they
can benefit from a strong cooperative
banking system.The second is that these
k agreements will mean Rabobank dients can
w be served at local level through these
networks. And vice versa, of course. Polish
customers can also call on assistance from
member banks when doing business in the
Netherlands.'
they have no sovereign debt. When the
Soviet Union was disbanded, Russia took
on all the Republics' sovereign debt in
return for assets. That's very important.
And they also have relatively stable
governments.'
REALISTIC EXPANSION
Based on the 'two a year' strategie plan,
Romania and one of the Central Asian
republics could be joining the network in
1997/98. 'If you see Poland and Hungary
as this year's achievement, and Ukraine
and Russia as coming in next year, then
we are well on track. You have to
remember that our plan is a target, it's an
ambition. If we want to catch up with
other banks, then two is a minimum. On
the other hand, we also have to be
realistic. Opening an office is the easy
part. Finding the right people to manage it
and providing the necessary level of
support, also from head office, is another
matter. Getting an operation off the
ground is always complicated and labour-
intensive. You have to plan for it - not just
jump in.'
QUALITY PEOPLE
Other countries the bank will be looking
at closely are the former Yugoslav
member states - Slovenia, Croatia, 'and
even Serbia, once things have calmed
down,' Kool adds. 'If we can achieve this
level of expansion, then we will have
created a pretty strong presence in the
region. Our success there will depend
primarily on the quality of the people we
are able to put in place. A few years ago,
I was involved in a study on the
relationship between the thoroughness of
the start-up investigation and subsequent
profitability. It turned out there was
hardly any relation at all. The single
most important factor in success or
failure was the quality of the general
management. I'm not saying we should
forget careful research. What I am saying
is that we have to bring in the best
possible people for our target countries
in this very specific region, which, as
emerging markets, obviously have their
own very specific opportunities and
problems. One of the advantages we
have is our existing expertise in dealing
with highly inflationary environments.
Our Latin American people know all
about that particular problem. That
know-how represents an interesting
resource.'
OPENING
RABO-BRP BANK
^K%k- r Tijdens de officiële
opening werden een
aantal contracten ondertekend met
Poolse coöperatieve banken. De Rabobank
zal kennis beschikbaar stellen via RIAS.
De Poolse banken kunnen profiteren van
onze kennis van het coöperatief bankieren
en Rabobank klanten kunnen op lokaal
niveau door deze netwerken worden
bediend.
1996.Trade, both import in which our customers now operate, they
and export, has also need their bank to be a real partner.'
fcricreased dramatically,
^ith the EU gradually
taking over the former
Soviet Bloc's role as
major trading partner.
LEARNING
CURVE
But in spite of this
optimistic scenario,
Ledworowski
emphasizes that
Poland still has a long
way to go. 'We've
certainly entered a
period of dynamic Dariusz Ledworowski - launching the partnership concept.
growth, he says. 'You
just have to look at the F&A sector here. We're is probably why we received so much media
really seeing the positive effects of what we attention when we opened officially.The
call the"transformation"the process of business community here clearly has a strong
^hifting to a market economy. In addition, appetite for the expertise our joint venture
foreign investment is also increasing strongly brings to the market. Our clients have great
- estimates show it will treble this year. But expectations of Rabo-BRP, not least because
from a banking and product point of view, our approach is very different from the old-
there is still a real learning curve ahead.This style banks. In the new market environment
NETWORK RESOURCES
Ledworowski sees education as a major
element in this partnership. 'Our clients are
not only looking to us for cheaper funding
through our top rating.They also want help in
using sophisticated banking instruments,
such as structured finance and treasury
products, like commercial paper. Our team
here is well on its way to transforming the
bank into the kind of operation which can
truly act as a partner - we are also going
through a learning curve. In that sense, we're
really looking forward to meeting up with
Rabobank colleagues from other countries
who have worked with,for example,
inflationary environments. I'm thinking here of
Brazil and Argentina. We have a lot to learn
from their experience.There is already talk
about organizing an international meeting on
emerging markets.Given the current state of
our market, that would be of real interest to us.
We're certainly going to need the help of the
network to bring our own operation up to
speed.'
