Rabobank wins at the Winsemius 2019 Awards Singapore

SINGAPORE, June 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Rabobank clinched the "Best Collaborative Team" Award for its submission of the Food Loss Challenge Asia contending alongside Friesland Campina and Nanyang Technology -- Wageningen University. The evening saw also Adobe winning in the Services category for its e-signature solution, which it rolled out together with Rabobank Singapore. Rabobank's win was extra special as Rabobank had tried to vie for the Awards already twice in previous years.

Winsemius Awards 2019 Winners with Jury members, guests and H.E. Mrs Margriet Vonno, Ambassador of the Netherlands to Singapore and Brunei (13th from the left), and a special guest from the Netherlands Mr Hans de Boer, President of the Dutch business and employers’ organisation VNO-NCW (14th from the left).

With the Awards' theme being "Sustainable Business: Collaborate to Innovate", Rabobank's Food Loss Challenge Asia was submitted an excellent example of Collaboration across different countries, time zones and stakeholders, and how all parties worked together to contribute to the Challenge.

Commenting on the award win, Alais Faucon, Rabobank's Sustainable Solutions Development Manager and Project Manager of the Food Loss Challenge Asia, said: "We are excited for Rabobank to have won the Best Collaborative Team Award. This Award is a testament to our ability to rally Rabobankers, F&A players and agtech solution providers around pressing global issues. We are looking forward to seeing many more initiatives that catalyse sustainability through collaboration!"   

Chandra Sinnathamby, APAC Head of Document Cloud Solutions of Adobe, said: "We are thrilled to have won the award together with Rabobank. It's a recognition of the impact that Adobe Sign brings not only at the business level -- as a user-friendly e-signature platform that helps to optimise day-to-day banking workflows and improve customer experiences -- but also in contribution towards a sustainable future with less paper and energy use, and an overall reduction in carbon footprint, through continued digital innovations."

Harjan Kuiper, CEO of Rabobank Singapore, said: "I am very proud of both teams to have won these awards. As the leading global food and agribusiness bank, Rabobank recognizes its responsibility to do its part for a more sustainable future. Last year's Food Loss Challenge Asia  event is a great showcase how Rabobank can collaborate with clients, entrepreneurs and internal stakeholders around a Sustainability topic, in this case food loss. Furthermore, working with Adobe on the e-Sign solution is a great example of how digital technology has enhanced our operational efficiency and at the same time contributes to our bank's mission of 'growing a better world together'."

Organised by the Dutch Chamber of Commerce in Singapore, the Winsemius Awards Gala is held annually to celebrate the strong business ties between Singapore and the Netherlands, and to recognize innovative and impactful achievements. The awards took place on 31 May 2019 and marked its fifth edition. The evening was a resounding success with Guests of Honour Mr Chan Chun Sing, Minister for Trade and Industry, Her Excellency Mrs Margriet Vonno, Ambassador of the Netherlands to Singapore and Brunei and a special guest from the Netherlands, Mr Hans de Boer, President of the Dutch business and employers' organisation VNO-NCW in attendance.

The Winsemius Awards are named after Dutch economist Dr. Albert Winsemius, who was an important advisor to the late Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew from 1961 to 1984 and played a major role in the formulation of Singapore's national economic development strategy. Their friendship symbolizes the very close ties between Singapore and The Netherlands.

Jury members of the Winsemius 2019 Awards were:

• Jessica Cheam, Founder and Managing Editor of Eco-Business, an award-winning journalist, TV presenter, director, producer, and a social entrepreneur;
• Professor Dr. Vladan Babovic, Professor at Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at National University of Singapore, a leading researcher, educator and scientist entrepreneur;
• Constant van Aerschot, Director Asia Pacific at World Business Council for Sustainable Development, a global CEO-led organisation of 200 forward thinking businesses working together to accelerate the transition to a sustainable world.

Submissions had to demonstrate innovation and sustainability and had to have a collaborative link of both Singaporean and Dutch resources. The Winners of the "Best Collaborative Team" and "Small Business Rising Star" categories were decided through a final online voting by the public.

Our congratulations to the other winners of the evening: Golden Agri Resources (Manufacturing & Supply Chain), PWNT Water Technology (Maritime, Water & Offshore), Olam International (Red-Orange Inspiration) and OrcaNation (Small Business Rising Star), as well as to Royal HaskoningDHV & Hydroinformatics Institute for winning the Special Mention award.

ABOUT RABOBANK
Rabobank Group (www.rabobank.com) is a global financial services leader providing wholesale and retail banking, leasing, and real estate services in 38 countries worldwide. Internationally, the Group is committed to being a leading bank in the field of food and agri worldwide providing tailored financial solutions and sector knowledge to our clients across the entire food value chain. Rabobank puts its knowledge, networks and financing capabilities to use to encourage clients in adopting a more sustainable food production practice globally. Measured by Tier 1 capital, Rabobank Group is one of the world's largest financial institutions with high credit ratings by all rating agencies. In February 2019, Sustainalytics placed Rabobank at the top of the sustainability rankings for major banks.

ABOUT ADOBE
Adobe (www.adobe.com), a multinational computer software company, worked together with Rabobank Singapore to implement Adobe Sign to help digitize the bank's document workflow processes. Adobe Sign, part of Adobe Document Cloud, enables organisations to create a paperless work environment which improves operational efficiency and positively impacts the environment.

ABOUT ADB-DUTCHCHAM SINGAPORE
ADB-DutchCham (www.adb-dutchcham.sg) is the result of a merger between the Association of Dutch Business people in Singapore (founded in 1990) which targeted individual professionals and the Dutch Chamber of Commerce in Singapore (founded in 2008) which targeted companies. In 2018, ADB and DutchCham merged to strengthen the links between those interested in Dutch business, to facilitate business links between Dutch and Singaporean companies, and to represent Dutch businesses in Singapore. ADB-DutchCham has a membership of 20 Orange members (mostly large multinationals), 100+ Corporate members and 350+ Individual members and is open to all professionals and companies with an interest in business from, in, or with the Netherlands. The focus of ADB-DutchCham is on areas of particular strength and collaboration between the Netherlands and Singapore, including innovation, sustainability and water Management.

For more information, email to Rabobank Singapore at singapore@rabobank.com

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