What's
Worldwide
APFT - PUTTING
FINANCE INTO AGRI
WHAT'S NEWS Issue 4 April 1997
Supplement for What's NewS
April 1997
For the Agri Project Finance Team (APFT),the therms
'customer-driven' and 'knowledge-based' are inherent to
all their activities. But the team concept is just as
important. Although spread all around the world, this
team-driven notion remains a key element in all the APFT's
operations. it has to be, they argue, as extremely rapid
growth in the last 4 years - now 35 specialized members in
11 strategie locations worldwide - means cohesion is
essential. What's NewS asks members of the APFT worldwide
what makes this team tick.
Utrecht
-Washington
AWarsaw
- Budapest
Mexico
Santiago-
Hong Kong
Singapore -
Riode Janeiro
SaoPaulo
Sydney
Maintaining competitive edge
means global placement of
APFT members is mandatory.
Agri-project finance tends to
mean opportunities in
developing countries whose
markets are not saturated by
competition. 'Agribusiness in
mature markets, like Europe, is
very much a sunset industry,'
says team coördinator Niek
^jtreefkerk. 'Companies are
relocating to emerging
economies so this is where the
new projects are. And that
means we have to be there as
well. The danger is, of course,
that emerging economies are
more volatile. At the same
time, we've seen a lot of
improvement in the macro and
structural economie
environment in developing
countries since the world debt
crisis of the 1980s. Now that it
is stabilizing, interesting
consumer markets are
emerging.'
CHAIN KNOW HOW
But what are these projects
exactly? According to
Streefkerk, in its truest sense, a
project can be defined as a new
entity; one with definite
prospects, but in terms of
financial achievement, one
with no real track record. A
project can mean setting up a
new company or expanding on
an existing one, in both cases
the character of the company
is changed. This is where
project finance needs to be
both strong and forward
looking. And, the team claim,
this is an area where APFT is a
real pioneer. Says Bruce Tozer,
one of five team members
based in Hong Hong, this
certainly applies to activtities
in China. 'The whole Hong
Kong team are essentially
pioneers in the food and agri
industry here. In the next
century, the Chinese market
will have an enormous
influence on F&A globally. So
you have to understand this
From right to left:
Karia Tai, John
Redick, Roger
Bradshaw, lssac
Chan and Bruce
Tozer.
APFT PIONIER IN AGRI-FINANCE
'Het APFT is voortdurend opzoek naar nieuwe, veelbelovende projecten in landen met snel ontwikkelende of ontluikende
economieën/zegt teamleider Niek Streefkerk. Hoewel het team in de hele wereld opereert, blijft het werken in een team een
sleutelelement in alle projecten van APFT. What's NewS vraagt leden van het APFT-team naar hun drijfveren.
APFT pioniert op het gebied van sterke, toekomstgerichte financieringen. Bruce Tozer uit Hong Kong:'In de volgende eeuw zal de Chinese markt
een enorme invloed hebben op wereldwijde F&A. Je moet deze snel veranderende markt goed begrijpen, of je blijft onherroepelijk achter.'
