Launch Rabo India is 'timely'
in brief contents
Rabobank
New chairman
International
Biological implications
Anotber month of
wheeling and dealing
in What's NewS
What'sNewS
Monthly newsletter for Rabobank International for internal use only Issue 2 February 7 999
After almost a year of
preparation, Rabo India's
operations in the major port of
Mumbai (Bombay) and the
Indian capital Delhi were
tinally opened officially by
Rabobank deputy chairman
1 lans Smits. Amidst a flurry of
serious media attention, the
Mumhai office of close to 40
Ipeople, got off to a strong start
with journalists quizzing both
Peter Greenberg and Frans van
Bijsterveld on how Rabo India
can add value to the food and
agribusiness (F&A) sector. The
Indian government has recently
prioritized F&A, with special
focus on food processing, so
our entry into the market at
this point is considered timely.
The importance of Rabo
India's launch was
underpinned in Delhi by the
presence of minister of
agriculture, Som Pal, at a
seminar organized jointly by
the Confederation of Indian
Industry and our people in the
capital. The airn of the seminar
was to dentonstrate Rabo
India's commitment to
knowledge-driven financial
services. More on pages 6-7.
Hans Smits (left) building contacts with Indian minister of agriculture
For those of you who don't
already know, following a
decision made late last month,
new chairman of the
Rabobank International (RI)
Maarten Hulshoff
managing board is to be
Maarten Hulshoff. Hulshoff,
aged 51, is currently chairman
of the board of directors for
the Dutch insurance company
NCM I lolding NV, and is due
to take up his post with us
towards the second quarter of
the year, at a date yet to be
^fcrranged. Until that time,
current acting chairman Rik
van Slingelandt will remain.
Hulshoff will have final
responsibility for all RI
corporate banking and global
financial markets activities.
According to Van Slingelandt,
Flulshoff was the 'most
suitahle candidate due to his
many years of international
banking experience.'
No one can ignore the impact
the biotechnology revolution is
having on food and agri
business (F&A). To prove it,
this year the Harvard School of
Business offered a course
exclusively on the subject.
Seven Rabobankers including
Willem Cramer (general
manager of Banco Rabobank
International Brasil S.A.)
attended the three-day seminar
along with 200 other decision-
makers in F&A from around
the world. Says Cramer,
'Rabobank has the biggest
presence of any financial
institution at these types of
seminars. I think that only
confirms our commitment to
the sector.' According to
Cramer the strength of this
particular course was the
presentation of case studies by
CEOs of four pharmaceutical
giants; Novartis, DuPont,
Monsanto, and Celera. The key
question - what impact will the
growing body of knowledge
gained from biotech research
have on the F&A chain?
Surprising was the wide variety
of conclusions reached.
Opinions ranged from
anticipating huge changes for
the industry, to foreseeing no
serious impact on F&A at all.
Also obvious were regional
differences in attitudes,
especially regarding the hot
topic of genetic modification.
Cramer himself sees big
changes down the road,
implications of which RI must
fully understand 'in order to
hold our position as a global
F&A bank. Only by being
informed can we continue to
act as a trusted advisor to our
clients and therefore position
ourselves for the future.'
CANFAS - consolidating our
advisory services 3
Structured finance
- global realignment 4
Spicing up business in India
- opening with a bang 6
Oiobal financial markets
- the latest developments 8
Latin America
- an update on the crisis 10
Market survey
- how we're faring 12
Shadow Group - under the skin
of our strategies 14
Talking heads - Willem Cramer
on luck and achievement 16
