organization
Rabobank Foundation's feel-good factor
in brief
What'sNewS Issue 5'May 1998
Success stories
Surprising synergies
Portugal's joint venture
Dealing in harmony
The Rabobank Foundation, an
autonomous organization funded by
voluntary contributions by member banks
and Rabobank Nederland, shares the
bank's essential commitment to the
principles of the cooperative movement.
A century ago, we were established in
Establishing cooperatives from grass roots
in the Philippines
order to financially support entrepreneurs
in local, mainly agrarian Dutch
communities. We have since developed
into a world-class organization, but our
primary task, as we move into a new
century, remains to help people develop
their potential within communities.
However, as Wim Meijer, chairman of the
As we all know, this summer will mark the centenary
of our bank, a notable milestone in our
organizational history. But it also brings a more
modest but equally important date: namely, the 25th
anniversary of the Rabobank Foundation.
Rabobank Group and of the Rabobank
Foundation notes: 'In many parts of the
world economie equality is an almost
unattainable goal. For these people, the
disadvantage and dependency is even
greater than it was for the small western
European farmer we were originally
established to help.'
The Rabobank Foundation is dedicated
to applying the same cooperative
principles - so effective in western Europe
a century ago - in the context of less
advantaged markets in today's world. It
aims to provide 'seeds' that will
eventually grow into improved living and
working conditions. The stimulation of
savings and credit cooperatives as a
vehicle for social and economie
development ranks high on the list of
goals. Among the many success stories is
Sanasa in Sri Lanka, a cooperative to
which the Foundation is providing
extensive technical support, particularly in
modern banking techniques. This project
is in a brochure describing the activities
of the Rabobank Foundation which will
be sent out to offices throughout our
network soon. Other extremely effective
programs include the extension of
'microcredits'. For example, in the
Philippines and India, local women have
organized themselves in order to qualify
for small loans to set up income-
generating activities such as keeping
chickens or pigs, starting a shop, or
sewing and selling clothes. Group
members act as guarantors of each
individual loan, which is repaid in regular
instalments.
Although the Foundation is active
primarily outside the countries in
which we have a presence, surprising
synergies sometimes emerge. As reported
in our November issue, a Rabobank
Foundation executive based in Singapore
happened to be talking to an APFT
account manager, who mentioned that
Tate Lyle was interested in acquiring
new supplies of sugar cane for a new
factory. One thing led to the next and
small farmers who were beneficiaries
of a Rabo Foundation project in
Vietnam were put in touch with the
global conglomerate, and a purchase
contract ensued.
Lisbon based company
promises to tap into the
potentially lucrative economy
of Portugal, presently one of
the fastest growing in western
Europe. 'The local CAM
banking group has over a
million clients that's
10 percent of the population -
and a balance sheet making it
the sixth largest bank in
Portugal,' says Larry van der
Schoor, general manager of
Interpolis International. 'The
joint venture is a two way
street. They can offer us use of
their local expertise and
distribution network and we
can bring in our allfinance
experience and product
knowledge.' Official signing of
the joint venture was in
January with best guesses
launching first policies around
October this year.
Rabobank subsidiary
Interpolis, together with
Portuguese banking group
Crédito Agricola Mütuo
(CAM), have recently created
a joint venture life insurance
company branded Crédito
Agricola Vida. The new
Oeneral manager Larry van
der Schoor, instrumental in the
Interpolis joint venture
Dutch Ricciotti orchestra
played to a crowded
Rabobank dealing room as a
finale to their 'deceleration'
tour. Intended to slow down
today's busy pace of life, the
orchestra, aside from bringing
harmony to our Utrecht
dealing room, played in other
high-stress environments such
as a traffic jam and train
station during rush hour.
Cashing in on symphony,
Ricciotti orchestra de-stressing
Utrecht's dealing room
The unique idea, according
to head of sales Paul
Michielsen, was met with
much enthusiasm. 'Such an
unusual event in our dealing A
room was a real morale-
booster. We combined it with
other celebrations as a success-
ful tooi in increasing internal
networking.'
