AsiA: ReGIONAL INFO EXCHANGE
WhAT'S NewS Issue 11 December 1997
working relations
5
and good health care. Already there are
■»00,000 expatriates working in China
^vithout access to Western health care -
150,000 in Beijing alone. But in addition to
a real market, there is also the role model
function which we think is very important.'
ROLE MODEL FUNCTION
'The Chinese have spent a lot of time,
money and effort sending their young
people, especially doctors, to different
parts of the world for post-graduate
training. North America is a preferred
destination. These people come home, start
work in a local hospital and start trying to
put what they've learnt into practice. But if
they are a lone voice, then there is little
chance of making real impact. Another
development that we have seen in North
America and in Europe is the rise of
professional managers. That has yet to
kmerge here. So our sense is that the
Chinese authorities hope we will be able to
bring in good Canadian management and
demonstrate what good hospital
management is. I think it is a tremendous
opportunity for us to show good health
care and good management, to show them
how you can deal with pharmaceuticals,
medical supplies and a whole bunch of
other things like that.'
EXPORTABLE STRATEGY
Those other things include development
into a clinical institute for trials and the
launch of tele-medicine. 'This means we
can digitize an image, an X-ray image,
beam it to Canada and have a specialist
look at it and assist in diagnoses. The cost
of importing a whole college of specialists
^into China would be prohibitive - this way,
Pve get the best of both worlds.' While the
hospital will be staffed by Canadian
medical personnel, the best Chinese
practitioners will be brought in for periods
of two to three years so that they can piek
up Western expertise. 'Then we'11 roll them
back into the local health care system.'
1'arasiuk is not only very enthusiastic about
the approach they are taking in China and
ICCI's opportunities there, he also believes
what the company is doing in the People's
Republic would be exportable to other
countries in the region. He puts no little
faith in the fact that chances of succeeding
increase if the exporter is not a super power
or a country with a negative reputation.
POSITIVE IMAGE
'Somehow people feel comfortable dealing
■with Canadians,' he claims. 'We're not a
Ruper power, we don't get caught up in
super power politics. It's a great image that
means we can move along in a pretty
neutral way. The Netherlands can do the
same. So I believe we both have a lot to
offer emerging countries. Some companies
look at the possibility of going into foreign
countries and buying up existing health
care facilities. 1 know that there are some
American firms that are thinking of
acquiring British hospitals. Let me teil you,
I think that may work for a few years, but
at some stage there will be a huge explosion
unless you are totally committed to the
values and sensitivities of the countries in
which you are operating. It's one thing
doing McDonald's in different countries;
it's another thing dealing with health care.'
ETHICS AND SENSITIVITIES
From his broad experience in this business
in various countries, 1'arasiuk is pleased to
see the promise of a dedicated health care
financial institution. And, as already noted,
he is complimentary about the bank's
commitment. 'In the health care sector, I
think the Rabobank has to - and this is not
just a cliché, you really have to - be careful
about the ethics of business and local
sensitivities. If you are going to be the
financial banker of this sector, then beware
of raiders who think they can impose their
system on other countries through
acquisition or merger. There is bound to be
a backlash. It would be my advice to the
bank to be careful and very sensitive. A
project may sound good, may look good,
but it could be scratching raw nerves. Play
on your middle-power position, on your
positive image. Up until now, we've been
intpressed by you. The bank seems to
communicate. Our impression was that our
counterparties in your Hong Kong office
were in close touch with head office. We
were certainly never in a situation where we
wondered whether we were in the right
stove pipe.'
BETTER CARE
Parasiuk stressed that he 'is very
impressed by the fact that Rabobank is
focussing on health care as a special area
of lending in addition to its traditional
specialty Food Agribusiness'.
According to Parasiuk, there are a number
of other financial institutions which will
possibly want to get into the health care
field, 'in our discussions with the IFC
(International Financial Corporation), they
expressed an intention of moving into this
field very aggressively. I think they will
deal with a number of banks, but
Rabobank should be able to take a leading
position. There have been health care
specialists in the US, banks like Chase and
Citicorp. But these tend to carry a cultural
bias. So I think a bank like Rabobank
from a middle-power country like the
Netherlands can have a very interesting
future in this area. This business will grow
dramatically over the next 25 years. Other
players are starting to recognize that and
you'11 get some people who will want to
get rich quick. 1 do not believe Rabobank
acts in that manner. To get health care
right, you have to understand the links
between public and private objectives so
that you work with a country in a
cooperative manner so that you achieve
better health care to as many people as
possible.
in brief
Southeast Asia's
relationship
managers and
product specialists
splashing towards a
team-future - seen
here taking a break
on Bali's Ayung
River.
Relationship
managers and
product specialists
from all operations in
the region of
Southeast Asia got
together last month
on Bali to improve
information flows
between the two
disciplines.Says Hans
Hannaart: 'We have a
number of rep offices
in the region where
account managers
spearhead our efforts.
The idea behind this
region-wide meeting
wasto bring account
managers closerto
the product
specialists so that
both gained a better
understanding of the
other's needs.'
Implementing the
customer focus
strategy was the
underlying theme, but
Hannaart also expects
this type of gathering
will be useful for info
exchanges when the
investment banking
teams come on-
board.