'More than just
A MONEY BANK...'
16
talking heads
What's NewS Issue 7 July 1997
If current received wisdom is that banking is all about
people, then, says Shanghai's Maarten van Alkemade, we
couldn't be banking in a better place. Business
throughout South-East Asia tends to be based on
relationships and personal contacts, but no where is that
so true or as culturally and socially embedded as in China.
Van Alkemade on his love of travel, the East and the
business of the People's Republic.
The wonderful - and
challenging - thing about China
is that while some countries in
the region have already become
rather more occidental in their
business dealings,' says Van
Alkemade, 'China is still China.
1 mean that these days you can
have breakfast meetings with
Asians who traditionally would
never discuss business straight
off. Now, they themselves get
right into the deal over early
morning tea. That would never
happen in China.'
There are people who develop a
fascination and even a passion
for a particular part of the
world. Talking to Maarten van
Alkemade, it would appear
Asia is his. 'From a very young
age,' he says, 'I loved travel.
When I started studying, my
wife - then girlfriend - Mineke
and I started roaming around
the world. Budget travel was
upmarket compared to what we
had to spend, but we had a
great time. And the more we
travelled, the more we wanted
to come back to Asia.' When
they did return, it was on a
rather higher budget - to start
up MeesPierson's Hong Kong
office. The Dutch merchant
bank later sent Van Alkemade
to Singapore for the same
purpose. Then Rabobank came
along and offered him the big
one - China.
'What I like about Rabobank is
that it is an organization that
gives you the opportunity to be
concerned with more than just
money,' he says. 'Even bankers
have to think about why they
do it all. So the socio-economic
approach really appeals to me.'
In fact, this compliment to the
organization is Van Alkemade's
very polite way of opening up a
subject very dear to his heart -
in fact, the impression that he's
only doing the Talking Head so
that he can talk about his
'triple-A' and education projects
increases every minute. 'No
one's interested in my hobbies,'
he states rhetorically, before
rushing on to explain about
Anhui (see Teamplay special).
In anticipation of our centenary
the staff at Shanghai spend
quite some of their free time on
both Anhui and the project that
makes Van Alkemade's eyes
light up. 'There's a program in
China for the "adoption" of a
child's education. This means
you pay for the child's
schooling - you don't take it
away from the family, or
anything like that. It stays at
home but the money you
contribute allows the parents to
keep the child in school. We
like this project a lot,' he says,
'so much so that we're really
going to put much more effort
into it.' The Shanghai team have
ambitious ideas about how to
go about that. 'We're thinking
about sponsored dinners, tables
at USD 1000 each - that's
peanuts for a lot of the
corporates here. And with, say,
USD 50,000 you could do a lot
more than sponsor one child in
school. You could think about
whole schools. If one of the
fundamentais behind Rabobank
is that we can have a function
that is more than money only,
then this kind of project is what
will distinguish us from the
competition, from the others.'
'Holland Coöperative Bank', as
our name translates into
Chinese characters, is already
distinguishing itself in the sense
that Van Alkemade and the
team are currently on
tenterhooks in anticipation of
their licence. 'We've been
informed that the licence is
signed,' he says, 'but it still has
to be approved by various
...if banking is all about people, we couldn't be banking in a better
place...
ministries. That could take
some time. But we're not sitting
still.' Besides the deals booked
to Hong Kong, Shanghai is
busy shaping its staff for the
future. 'We've just recruited 10
graduates,' Van Alkemade
explains. 'And we're busy
setting up a training program
for them at various offices in
the region. That will mean they
gain real experience in a variety
of different disciplines. The
network is really coming
through for us on this one.'
But Maarten, what about the
Talking HeadDo you do
anything besides work and
lobby for charity projects?
Caught mid-sentence, he falters,
stops and then says: 'well, I like
diving'. Actually, he will be
taking his instructor's
examination this summer. 'Both
my wife and I love it - it is
almost like a meditation for me.
Under water is perfectly silent,
there is no sound at all. It is
total relaxation. And I want to
be able to teach our boys.' The
danger of discussing the Van
Alkemade trio of sons - seven,
four and two - is, of course, the
fact that talking children gives
their father a new opportunity
to hammer home his point
about education and the need
to support kids in China.
Weaning him off the subject
proves impossible this time -
for all the best reasons.
Maarten van Alkemade is not
only fascinated by China, its
people and its traditions from
an outside, observer perspective.
He truly feels that his small
team and their very big
cooperative bank can make a
difference. He's no soft touch or
over-zealous philanthopist -
although he has a single-minded
approach to putting across his
point. Basically, with Van
Alkemade, what you see is what
you get - a banker who wants
to belong to an organization
that is more than a money
bank. And yes, what he has to
say about that is much more
interesting than talking hobbie
