SOUTH ASIA, 16-17 DECEMBER 2004

Details and Press Materials

The first Asian launch of the Commission Report was held in Delhi on 16-17 December 2004. The organization of the launch reflected two principles embodied in the Private Sector Commission report. The first was co-ownership of the launch process. Accordingly, the first sub-regional launch was hosted by the Confederation of Indian Industry in partnership with the Government of India, UNIDO and UNDP. Keynote statements were delivered by Dr. Hafiz Pasha, UN Assistant Secretary General & UNDP Assistant Administrator / Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific; Mr. E.V.K.S Elangovan, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Government of India; and other important speakers. The Unleashing Entrepreneurship Report was launched in New Delhi by prominent Commission Member, Dr. Eduardo Aninat, former Minister of Finance, Chile, and former Deputy Managing Director of IMF, who outlined the key recommendations made by the Commission.

The delegations from the seven countries represented – Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan and India - consisted of private sector representatives, government officials and civil society business-oriented groups. The second principle of the launch was to ensure that immediate actions follow from it. Accordingly, each delegation was asked beforehand to prepare project proposals. These were submitted and discussed at the conference, noted in more detail below.

The launch benefited from the participation of another Member of the Commission, Professor C.K. Prahalad who gave a two-hour seminar during the course of the launch on the main findings of his book The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid - Eradicating Poverty through Profits. Many of the companies case-studied in Prof. Prahalad's book were in attendance, including ITC, Cemex, EID Parry, ICICI Bank, Hindustan Lever, among others.

On the second day, substantive deliberations took place on SME development experience in South Asia (with the session led by UNIDO), and on the conducive policy, legal and institutional frameworks that help to strengthen foundations for the development of private sector, with a special focus on SMEs. The session chaired by Dr. Wilfred Luetkenhorst, Director, SME Branch, UNIDO reflected upon the significance and development contributions of SMEs; the prospects and challenges for SMEs in South Asia; and the SME Cluster Development strategy based on UNIDO experience in India and South Asia.

The final session embodied the UNDP's commitment to ensure that recommendations of the UN Commission's Report do indeed translate into concrete actions in support of the MDGs. A panel led by the Division for Business Partnerships/BRSP, Dr. Jeya Wilson, helped develop next steps and actionable initiatives based upon the UN Commission Report recommendations, with a focus on SME development and enhancing interventions at the Bottom of the Pyramid that maximize the potential of the private sector's contribution to poverty reduction and achievement of the MDGs.

Prior to the workshop, participants were provided with the tentative guidelines for "developing innovative initiatives to promote for-the-profit private sector engagement in the delivery of products and services at the Bottom of the Pyramid". They could brought proposed ideas to the workshop. As a result, several concrete potential initiatives have emerged through the theme group discussions including:

• Export diversification and quality standards
• Enabling environment and policy framework for SMEs
• Niche markets and clusters, and indigenous inputs for SMEs
• Youth entrepreneurship, skills development, and business development services
• Women entrepreneurship
• Microinsurance and financial services

Further details of the report are available in this workshop report(126 pages, 5 parts):

Parts 1-5.1
Summary & Project Initiatives, Agenda, Concept Note, Guideline, and Sub-region and HQ Participants

Part 5.2
Indian Participants

Part 6.1-6.10
Annexes: Addresses, Opening Remarks, and non-UNIDO presentations

Table 1
Definitions of SMEs in South Asia Countries

Parts 6.11-7
UNIDO Presentations and Media Coverage

Press

12 Feb 2005 Financial Express

Editorial: "Innovative approaches can convert poverty into opportunity, says Ferdaus Ara Begum"

17 Dec 2004 Team India

"The private sector had been left out of the process of eradicating poverty in rural India for too long, management guru C. K. Prahalad said today."

16 Dec 2004 Deepika Global.com

"Stressing the importance of small and medium enterprises, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry E V K S Elagovan today assured that the Centre was committed to provide timely inputs like credit facilities and technological up gradation to the sector."

15 Dec 2004 UNDP Press Release No. 289

"The two-day Sub-Regional Workshop on "Unleashing Entrepreneurship: Making Business Work for the Poor", begins here, tomorrow. The workshop, a joint initiative of the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)..."