History
with a future
the back page
Teaming Up
>A
lts contri-
bution to
festivities.
The relation-
ship is
certainly
unique - for
150 years the
Dutch were they only mercantile traders
allowed to do business with Japan. This
exclusive role may have ehanged since,
but the Japanese still emphasize these
age-old ties. April 19 to 25 has been
designated 'Holland Week' and we will
be participating not least through our
own contribution - an exclusive
performance by the Netherlands
Chamber Orchestra and celebration
dinner for our top 100 clients on April
21. Our Tokyo office is also involved in
a travelling exhibition called
Highlighting the Netherlands, which
offers general information on this
country and Dutch companies active in
Japan. We are also co-sponsoring a euro
symposium on May 15 where
Wiiu Duisenberg, president of the ECB,
Alan Greenspan of the EED and
Hayama San of the Bank ol Japan will
speak on global economie trends.
Japan will welcome numerous Dutch
dignitaries for the Holland Week,
including Crown Prince Willem
Alexander and various ministers and
CEOs of major corporates - the prince
will open the Highlighting the
Netherlands exhibition on April 25.
If you want more information on
activities, please contact Freek Hoek at
our Tokyo office.
Our Tokyo team may be
celebrating with classical sounds,
but Rabobank Nederland Corporate
Clients (RNCC) - the ncw name for
our domestic-oriented wholesale
operation - took Amsterdam by storm
in their very own way. At a kick-off
held to establish close ties between
what is essentially a 'virtual' team,
groups from every part of RNCC got
together to build team spirit. It was
a hugely succcssful event - check out
pages 4 through 6 for the story
behind the picture.
i n rki uuvf
m kkw.kS',
4 22**18:00
It all started in April 1600. The Dutch
clipper Liefde had braved the Atlantic,
the Indian and Pacific Oceans to arrivé
safely in Nagasaki, Japan. The arrival of
this single ship and the establishment of
a trading post on the island of Deshima
would launch the almost continual four-
century trading relationship between the
Netherlands and Japan - an event that
both countries will be celebrating this
April, with Rabobank in Tokyo adding
