sustainability conference
Making a
sustained mark
What'sNewS Issue 9- September 1998 II
sustainable development projects. These
are, of course, valid questions. RI is one
of the first international banks to
introducé sustainable factors into lending
processes. But we are also the first to
admit that we ourselves are not much
further along the learning curve than
rnany of the people attending the
Conference chairperson and economist
Lois Dougan-Tretiak taking steps towards
sustainability
conference. 'Yet recognition of the
problem and the importance of the issue is
already a very important step,' argues
Lois Dougan-Tretiak of The Economist
Group, who chaired the event. 'This is an
important meeting because it brings
together Chinese officials and business
people concerned with environmental
protection and foreign corporates and
banks which are also involved in this
issue. The Chinese are actually getting a
tt of information here that would
normally take a long time to accumulate.'
For more on Sustainability and the
Chinese experience, contact Andrew
James in Shanghaitel +86 21 58889888.
The conference that launched the
Shanghai subsidiary and marked
our centenary in China was eight
months in the making. Huge efforts
and not inconsiderable human and
financial resources proved well spent as
VIPs, dignitaries and 'ordinary'
participants streamed into the
conference hall for what was described
as a rich, informative and valuable
experience for all. Andrew James,
Olivia Chen and Femke Vernooij
deserve a special mention, according to
Maarten van Alkemade. But the whole
Shanghai team can be congratulated on
a major success.
The team behind the scenes, standing left to right: Steven Zhu,
Andrew Feng, Lama Lu, Peter Zou, seated left to right: Kathy Lu, Lichi
Zhou, Chris Mao and Stephanie Chan
Maarten van Alkemade, generaI
manager Shanghai in
preparation for the conference
Organizer Andrew
James and RI
marketing's Roel
van Veggel
finalizing details
