Next December, Cindy Koolhout, Senior Relationship Manager
at Rabobank, will resign her post in the Netherlands to travel to
Amman, Jordan. She'll spend the next three years using her
knowledge and expertise to help the Iraq National Bank
Implementing from a distance
Getting involved
Rabobank lends
expertise to Iraq
National Bank
Koolhout explains that Rabobank will
only provide services, and will not be
contributing capital. 'We're only
providing our expertise, which can be
even more important than funding,'
she says.
One unique challenge is that the training
of Iraqi employees will actually take place
in Jordan and the Netherlands. 'In an ideal
situation, we prefer to train employees
on-the-job,Koolhout explains, 'but the
current political climate in Iraq makes that
impossible. Trainings will occur at
Jordanian Export and Finance Bank (EFB)
and later at a subsidiaryofthe Iraq
National Bank (INB) in Jordan, and also at
Rabobank in the Netherlands.' Koolhout
adds that because she'll also be setting
up credit activities in Jordan to service
the Iraqi market, issues like arranging ICT
facilities becomes especially important.
Josien Sluijs, Senior Project Manager for
RIAS, agrees. 'It has been an interesting
challenge, indeed.' Planning and strategy
often happen at a distance, while
implementation usually happens on-site.
But we realise the impact we can have in
Iraq by providing access to financial
services that will contribute to economie
development in the region, which is
extremely important for rebuilding the
country,'she says.
Rabobank International Advisory Services
(RIAS), was asked by the International
Financial Corporation (IFC) to contribute
advisory services to the INB in preparation
for a US$12 million disbursement of
donor loans. In January, the EFB acquired
a 49% share of INB. IFC saw this as an
opportunity to improve the financial
sector and to disburse credit lines once
the region has stabilised and
reconstruction is underway.
While EFB is a leader in large, corporate
international financing, they lack the
resources and knowledge necessary to
establish Credit Management, SME
finance and Retail Banking operations.
As Koolhout explains, 'Credit and Retail
banking are the pillars of a strong
financial arena.'
'Despite the current unrest, we anticipate
that once the situation improves there is
12 The Word
