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Jeroen Nijsen was recently appointed Regional Head of Asia
and is based in Hong Kong. He is responsible for implementing
Rabobank's strategy across the key target areas in the region.
0 Who is Jeroen Nijsen?
El You were recently appointed
Regional Head of Asia. What are your
priorities in the new role?
El You've worked in both Europe
and Asia. Can you outline some
of the main differences?
El Rabobank's cooperative structure
currently applies for the Netherlands
only. Can this structure work in Asia?
A "I think in those areas where you have a mature
business relationship that has developed over
many years, and where you have stood by your
clients through thick and thin, the cooperative
structure would be able to flourish. In such
cases it would make real sense to export the
cooperative model, in one form or another.
In Asia, on the other hand, there are mostly
'new' economies, with cliënt relationships that
are generally less mature than in many other
markets. And by that I mean our partnership with
clients is still relatively young and hasn't enjoyed
a long enough time period to mature to the
point where we would be able to introducé the
types of formalised involvement that would be
prevalent in a cooperative model. That said, I do
think that it is important to emphasise the values
that we have within Rabobank in all markets.
Explaining that we have been around for more
than 100 years, and that we support values such
as integrity, longevity and loyalty, resonates with
clients in Asia, more so than ever before. And by
showing that we live our values, that we practise
what we preach, we create a solid foundation
that we can build upon in Asia."»
KI
A "l'm a 46-year-old Rabobank diehard. I was born
and bred in the south of Holland and studied
there, before joining Rabobank in 1989.1've spent
the past 20 years working for the bank overseas
and am currently in my seventh posting. My
fïrst international assignment was to Singapore,
where I worked for two years. I then moved to
London, where I worked in credit analysis and as a
relationship manager (in what is now called TCF),
before moving out to Jakarta to become head of
risk. From there I headed west to India, where I was
co-managing director with Rabo India Finance,
responsible for all the support functions. In 2004
1 moved to Hong Kong as head of Rabobank
Northeast Asia, before transferring to Poland to
work as CFRO for our retail bank BGZ in 2007.
During my travels I met my Indonesian wife and
we have three children together. My precious spare
time is spent with my family and together we like
hiking, movies and exploring our new 'homes'."
A "My fïrst priority is to implement our strategy
in Asia - which was put together by my pre-
decessor Rob van Zadelhoff and approved by
the Executive Board in Utrecht. Essentially this
involves developing the three areas that we
want to focus on in the region - India, China
and Southeast Asia - although this is easier said
than done. The moment you write a strategy for
Asia you realise that a lot has already changed,
so what you had planned for no longerapplies.
However, what won't change is our desire
and commitment to grow the cliënt franchise
across our key sectors: F&A, renewable energy
and network clients. The priority is to realise
the strong ambition embedded in the strategy
and take advantage of the market opportunities
available to us. Having said that, the economie
climate remains challenging and the Asian
landscape is a very diverse one, so the strategy
needs to be continuously calibrated for each
individual market."
A "Professionally, the main difference concerns
the pace of working life.There's a greater intensity
in Asia than in Europe, which perhaps comes
from Asians' strong entrepreneurial attitude and
willingness to work very long hours. Places like
Hong Kong are high energy and operate around
the clock. By contrast, you find a healthier work/life
balance in Europe. When we moved to Poland, for
instance, although it was a big step for both my
family and me, we soon realised that quality of
life from a family perspective had improved. By
the same token, the moment I returned to Hong
Kong there was almost a physical feeling that
l'd re-entered a high-energy location, with a very
full-on work culture. Clearly, Europe and Asia live
by different sets of norms and values and that takes
time to adjust to, in both cases."
ISSUE 29 KtR RI WORI.D
