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PACIFIC
ISLANDS, 8-9 November 2005
Details and Press Materials
More than 40 delegates including SME policy makers, business
leaders and representatives of business associations and groups
from 14 countries -- Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia,
Kiribati, Niue, Republic of Marshall Islands, Palau, Papua
New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tokelau, Tuvalu,
Vanuatu and the host country Fiji, as well as development
organizations (ADB, IFC, Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat,
UNDP, ILO AusAID), are meeting in Suva Fiji on November 8-9,
2005 to discuss the role of entrepreneurship in the Pacific.
The UNDP Pacific Sub-Regional Centre, in cooperation with
the newly established Pacific Islands Private Sector Organisation,
is convening a Pacific launch of the report on Unleashing
Entrepreneurship: Making Business Work for the Poor prepared
by the UN Commission on the Private Sector and Development.
The Commission on the Private Sector and Development, co-chaired
by Prime Minister Paul Martin of Canada and Ernesto Zedillo,
Mexico’s former president, was convened by the Secretary-General
and sponsored by UNDP in an effort to identify and address
the legal, financial and structural obstacles blocking the
expansion of the indigenous private sector in developing nations.
Mr. Miko Rwayitare, a member of the Commission from Congo
and founder of Telecel International, Africa’s biggest
cellphone network, officially launched the Report during the
first day of the 2 day workshop on November 8, 2005. He noted
that the work of the Commission has “been heavily influenced
by the voices of entrepreneurs and that entrepreneurship encompasses
the actions of small, informal, village as much as it does
of the managers and innovators in multinational corporations
and large local companies. It is their voices that we have
heard the loudest.” He further remarked that the Pacific
countries face similar challenges than African countries in
terms of access to market, high costs of infrastructure and
cost of doing business. However, despite these constraints,
there are opportunities for businesses to provide goods and
services to the poor. For example, cell phones are booming
in Africa with subscriber numbers expected to hit 100 million
by the end of the year from 40 million in 2002. Mr. Rwayitare
illustrated the many ways that ICT is changing the lives of
the poor in Africa. In Senegal, farmers and fishermen get
the latest market prices for their goods via their phones,
in South African townships AIDS counselors monitor patients
on life-prolonging drugs via cell phone applications, and
in tiny Lesotho, farmers receive weather forecasts via SMS.
CEO Fiji Ministry of Foreign Affairs and External Trade,
Isikeli Mataitoga welcomed the delegates on behalf of the
Fijian Government. He said in the context of the Pacific region,
the Report provides new potential for economic growth
the concept of the ”Missing Market” that in this
region represents 80% of the population that are sidelined
by the formal economic sector largely because they are rural
dwellers with low income levels.
The launch will be followed by a one and half day workshop
to discuss the recommendations of the report and to mobilize
action at regional and country levels.
It is also anticipated that the Pacific launch and workshop
will generate innovative strategies as wells as new partnerships,
business models and actionable initiatives on enhancing interventions
at the “Bottom of the Pyramid” (BOP) that will
maximize the potential of the private sector in contributing
to poverty reduction and achievement of the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs).
BOP is a business strategy that is built upon a conscious
business decision to service the poor and marginalized. Not
out of corporate social responsibility nor charity but as
sound business decision and making money at the same time.
A good example from Fiji includes the ANZ rural banking where
the bank is targeting the 350,000 unbanked rural people which
will grow its market share substantially. In 10 months they
have 35,000 new accounts and have mobilized $2million in deposits
– serious business with potentially serious returns
and strong pro-poor outcomes.
Further details of the report are available in this workshop
report ( 4 parts):
Part
1
Part
2
Part
3
Part
4
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