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EAST
ASIA, 21-22 APRIL 2005
Details and Press Materials
The East Asian sub-regional launch of ‘Unleashing
Entrepreneurship: Making Business Work for the Poor’
was held in Manila, Philippines, (April 21-22). The event
brought together more than 800 people from a broad range of
backgrounds. The launch which culminated in a substantive
workshop emphasized establishing partnerships between the
private and public sectors. Outcomes of the workshop included
proposals and practical initiatives where the private and
public sectors work together to cater to the needs of the
poor.
The UN Commission of Private Sector Development, in its report
on “Unleashing Entrepreneurship” calls for active
public-private partnerships to
facilitate access to financing, to assist the development
of skills and knowledge, and to enable sustainable delivery
of basic services to people living below $2 a day. The report
encourages public-private partnerships that help convert “missing
markets” into functioning markets by offsetting the
high risks that prevent private sector from serving the poor.
The purpose is to create win-win opportunities that benefit
the poor as well as help companies yield profits.
The Vice President of Philippines, Noli de Castro delivered
the inaugural address. Dr. Hafiz Pasha, the UN Assistant Secretary
General and Regional Director of the Bureau for Asia and the
Pacific of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP),
delivered the keynote address. Mr. Kwame Pianim, Member of
the Commission from Ghana and CEO of New World Investments,
shared recommendations of the Report. Mr. Jose Ma. Conception
III, Presidential Consultant on Entrepreneurship, noted that
the role played by domestic entrepreneurs in economic development
has often been undervalued while Dr. Jeya Wilson, Director,
Division for Business Partnerships/BRSP, UNDP emphasized that
private initiative — driven by market — based
incentives can foster new business models that provide goods
and services to the poor. Moreover, the Asian Development
Bank (ADB), International Finance Corporation (IFC), Australia
and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. (ANZ), Energy House, SMART
Communications Inc., GLOBE Telecoms and thirteen (13) participating
country delegations shared experiences on how the “wealthy”
private sector can work with the poor at the bottom of the
pyramid (BOP).
Participants from East Asia representing Afghanistan, Cambodia,
China, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, the Philippines,
Republic of Korea, Thailand, Timor Leste and Viet Nam presented
public-private partnership initiatives aimed at improving
the welfare of the populous living at the Bottom of the Pyramid.
The Country Delegations came up with innovative project ideas
using the BOP approach, some potentially promising initiatives
were:
- New forms of financial services (Cambodia)
- New solutions to women empowerment in ethnic minority areas (China)
- Enhancing agricultural producers' access to regional/global markets (Indonesia & Malaysia)
- IT access for the poor and for SMEs (ROK & Mongolia)
- Improving the supply chain between processors and distributors by means of an information center (Myanmar)
- Financial services, industry associations/chamber groups and social entrepreneurship (Philippines)
- Developing innovative contract modalities to fill the
gap between small farms and large processors (Thailand,
Vietnam & Laos)
The workshop also led to new South-South private sector contacts
established between IT companies from Mongolia and the Philippines.
One of the issues the two companies discussed was the means
to develop systems that benefit and empower the poor using appropriate
third-world technology.
Also, Afghanistan and Malaysia proposed cooperating on dry fruit
processing. As Afghanistan was once one of the leading exporters
of dry fruits products, the purpose was to devise ways and means
to regain this position.
Malaysia could potentially help in the certification, branding
and marketing process of dry fruits products. Another interesting
initiative developed was between Thailand, Viet Nam and Laos
where through developing and linking small farms and large processors
access to local and global markets could potentially be enhanced.
In this manner small farm households would generate greater
incomes from the greater and more reliable market access.
Not all was work, on the second day of the workshop, a promising
Pilipino singer, Riza Navales, performed during the lunch break.
The workshop concluded with concrete initiatives from the country
delegations, some of which will be followed up by pre-feasibility
studies financed by the Regional Bureau of Asia and Pacific.
Further details of the report are available in this workshop
report (189 pages, 5 parts):
Parts 1-4
Executive Summary, Workshop Proceedings & Project Initiatives,
Agenda, Concept Note, Guidelines
Part 5
List of Participants
Parts 6-7
Foreword, Annexes, Opening Statements/Presentations
Part 8
Country Delegation Proposals
Part 9
Media Coverage
Press
1 May 2005 Manila
Bulletin Online
Speech of Vice President NOLI DE CASTRO at the opening
of a United Nations Development Program (UNDP) workshop at
the Makati Shangri-La Hotel on April 21, 2005.
22 Apr 2005 INQ7money.net
"UNDP forum looks into Smart mobile commerce"
Phillipines Press Release
"Impressive RP delegation to UN regional confab
on entrepreneurship"
UNDP Web Press Release
"Unleashing Entrepreneurship: Making Business
Work for the Poor"
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