KEY POINTS:
Sticking to its core business of rural lending has been the key to helping Rabobank survive the tough financial conditions of the past year says Asia Pacific head Sander Pruijs.
Pruijs, who visited New Zealand for the first time last week, said many of its competitors were now scrambling to go back to their roots.
"I see a lot of leaders of the financial sector having to go back to basics. We are already at our roots. Food and agriculture are our core competencies. Our niche business is also our core business."
While the agricultural sector has been affected by the massive drop-off of commodity prices in the last couple of months, Pruijs said it was not unusual for the sector to go through ups and downs.
"The food and agricultural sector are used to dealing with volatility, as a bank we are used to dealing with it."
Pruijs said the bank had long-term relationships with its customers.
"Yes, it affects us. But our clients are professionals, they know what they are doing. We stand by them."
Pruijs said the future for the food and agricultural sector still stacked up because of shortages in food across developing nations.
He did not believe commodity prices would continue to fall much further. While they had dropped a lot recently they were still above levels seen in previous years, he said.
But the financial sector still had a way to go before there would be some kind of stability.
"In the financial sector the next six to 12 months will be really important. It will at least take that to settle down."
He also remained concerned about how the slow-down would affect the developing economies of China and India.
"Most of the hype and excitement has been around India and China. There are obviously difficulties in those areas so growth has tapered off. We are seeing an increased focus on their own domestic markets.
"Those countries need high growth rates in order to keep up. What is happening there is a bit of a concern."
Pruijs said it seemed there were few bright spots remaining on the worldwide economic front at the moment.
