World Bank Boosts Entrepreneurs with Social Goals
It has been said that the best social program is a job. But a new generation of entrepreneurs is going beyond providing employment in developing nations to embracing and promoting social progress as part of their business model. With the backing of the World Bank, they are helping transform poverty-plagued regions from the Americas to Africa to Asia. VOA’s Michael Bowman reports from Washington, where a group of such entrepreneurs recently met with World Bank officials.
Seven years ago, Satyan Mishra launched a campaign to bring Internet access and web-related services to India’s vast rural areas—which are grossly under-served by the country’s main information and telecommunications providers. At first, he says, he faced formidable obstacles.
“India, fundamentally, is not a very entrepreneurial -friendly country. We have some great entrepreneurs in the cities, but in the villages it is very difficult to even think of doing something on your own. We have always looked at ourselves as a welfare economy.”
“Empowerment is directly against the bureaucratic system. The bureaucrats like people to be dependent on them. So if information is the key, if people have the knowledge, then they are not dependent. And that is not good for the bureaucrats.”
But Mishra’s idea caught the attention of the Grassroots Business Initiative of the International. Finance Corporation, an arm of the World Bank, which saw the initiative’s potential to link rural India to the global economy, boost access to information and services, and spawn commercial and socially beneficial activity.
GBI backed Mishra’s vision with financing and technical assistance. Today, his company, Drishtee, oversees a network of more than 1,500 Internet kiosks in villages across India, and aims to add thousands more in coming years.
While Mishra forged Drishtee, American entrepreneur Jeremy Hockenstein fell in love with Cambodia during a visit to Phnom Penh. Hockenstein, who has a background in information technology, launched a data entry firm in Cambodia with a unique business model.
“Our incoming employees are paid about three times the average income in the country. The heart of our program is that employees work half a day—work six hours a day and go to school the other six hours a day. So most of our employees are in their early 20s. This is a way for them to have both a first job experience and to further their education.”
The enterprise, called Digital Divide Data, also has the support of the Grassroots Business Initiative. DDD has almost single-handedly forged a new industry for Cambodia and helped generate further entrepreneurial activity.
“Former employees of ours have gone on to start other firms. And so I think we have played our role and I think we [demonstrated] that it is possible to have an IT
[information technology] sector. We can do this.”
Most new businesses require venture capital . But seed money is not always available in remote, underdeveloped regions of the world. Even where start-up funds are available, many investors ventures that emphasize social development rather than focusing exclusively on That is where the Grassroots Business Initiative comes in. GBI Director Harold Rosen says he is proud of both Drishtee and Digital Divide Data, and hopes they can serve as models for other ventures.
“There both of them are making big strides towards becoming self-sustaining businesses. But they are also doing something wonderful developmentally for people that, you know, usually do not get that much help out of the trickle-down [economic] approach.”
Other GBI-backed enterprises include a network of low cost pharmacies and clinics in Kenya, an association of female handicraft artisans in Swaziland, and an initiative to engage indigenous people of the Amazon in creating paper products from readily grown plants.
Rosen says he sees GBI as playing a role in a larger battle to promote sustainable development on the world stage.
“It’s fine to view the poor as a potential market, but they also need to create wealth. And, to take care of the poverty problem, we are going to have to find ways for people to stay with a sensible decision to stay in rural areas, and for ways for them to make a living, and maybe even better their lives.”
GBI’s services begin with a diagnostic phase in which business ventures are evaluated, and needs and obstacles identified. An action plan is then formed, with targets for business development and social goals, followed by an assistance program to launch and sustain the operation.
V ocabulary | 单词注释
Dictation Tips |听力难点
1. put on the map 形容地方变得著名，走进公众的视野。 The discovery of gold put our town on the map. 关于map. 常用的还有 off the map 形容地方湮没。 Whole cities were wiped off the map.
2. shy away from 逃避面对。 He shied away from this task.
3. the bottom line 财政报告中表示净收入或亏损的线。Bottom line 还表示最终的结果。 The bottom line, however, is that he has escaped. 还可表示关键的一点。 A lot can happen
between now and December, but the bottom line—for now—is that the city is still heading toward default.
Translation | 全文翻译
世界银行用社会目标激励企业家
人们说工作是最好的社会保障项目。然而新—代的企业家不局限于此，他们不仅给发展中国家人民提供就业机会，而且把促进社会进步看成是他们商业模式的一部分。有了世界银行的支持，他们正着手帮助从美洲到非洲再到亚洲的贫穷地区完成转型任务。这些企业家最近在华盛顿与世界银行的官员会面，下面是美国之音记者迈克·鲍曼的报道。
七年前米斯拉先生发起了给印度广大农村地区提供因特网及其它网络相关服务的运动，该国主要的信息和电讯提供商没能为这些地区提供优质服务。他说起初他碰到了不可逾越的障碍。
“基本来讲，印度是一个对企业家不太友好的国家。在城市我们有一些优秀的企业家，然而在农村很难想象自己独立做事。但我们还总是认为自己的经济是福利经济。”
他接着说：“权力下放（赋权）有违官僚体系的作风。官僚主义者想让人民依赖他们。如果信息是关键，如果人民拥有知识，那么他们就变得独立。这对官僚主义者不利。”
但米斯拉的构想引起了国际金融公司（世界银行一个重要部门）的草根商业计划的注意。该机构看到了米斯拉的构想有把印度农村经济和全球经济联系起来，提升其获得信息和服务的能力及促成有利于商业和社会的活动的潜力。
GBI 为米斯拉的构想提供融资和技术援助。目前，他的公司Drishtee 监管遍布印度农村的1500多个因特网服务站，公司还想在未来几年里增加几千个这样的服务站。
当米斯拉在建立Drishtee 公司时，有IT 背景的美国企业家杰拉米·哈根斯坦在金边之行后就恋上了柬埔寨，他在该国建立了一个商业模式独特的数据输入公司。
哈根斯坦说：”我们付给新来员工的薪水是全国平均工资的3倍。我们计划的核心是员工只需工作半天——每天工作6小时，另外6小时就可以上学。我们很多员工都只有20出头。这样一来他们既可获得工作经验又可继续深造。”
这个名为Digital Divide Data的企业也得到草根商业计划的支持。它几乎是单枪匹马为柬埔寨铸造一个新的行业，并且帮助组织企业家活动。
米斯拉说：“我们以前的雇员都自己开办公司了。因此我想我们已经起了带头作用，我想我们使柬埔寨重新得到关注，这表明建立IT 行业是有可能的。我们可以做到。”
大部分新业务要求要有风险资本。但边远落后地区启动资金并不易找到。即便在可得到创业资本地方，很多投资者都避开强调社会发展的风险投资，而更愿意投资只关注公司最基本发展的项目。
于是草根商业计划应运而生。GBI 主管哈罗德·罗森说他为Drishtee 和Digital Divide Data两家公司感到骄傲，并希望他们能够成为其它企业效仿的榜样。
他说道：“虽然说这两家公司都在努力使自己成为可持久发展的企业，但他们也为那些经常未能在利益扩散式经济中得到多少帮助的人民做了一些很有建设性的事。”
其它由GBI 支持的企业包括肯尼亚一个经营低消费药店和诊所的网络，斯威士兰的一个女性手艺技术工协会和一个旨在发动亚马孙本土人民用唾手可得的植物制造纸张的计划。
罗森说他认为GBI 在促进全球可持续发展这场更大的奋斗中起了一定的作用。
罗森说：“把穷困国家看成有潜力的市场是好事，但他们也要创造财富。而且，为了解决贫穷问题，我们不仅要找到出路使人们作出呆在农村地区的理智决定，而且要找到使他们能够谋生，甚至改善生活的出路。”
GBI 服务一开始会在其准备阶段评估商业资本和明确所需及障碍。然后确立一个为商业
发展和社会目标而定的行动计划，随之而来的是一个启动和维持此营运的协助项目。
Exercises | 即听即练
Fill in the blanks with the words you hear from the news:
1. Seven years ago, Satyan Mishra launched a campaign to bring and to India’s vast rural areas—which are grossly under-served by the country’s main 2. But Mishra’s idea caught the attention of the Grassroots Business Initiative of the International Finance Corporation, an arm of the , which saw the initiative’s potential to link rural India to the spawn activity.
3. It is fine to view the poor as a but they also need to . And, to take care of the poverty problem, we are going to have to find ways for people to to stay in rural areas.
1. Internet access, web-related services, information and telecommunications
2. World Bank, global economy, commercial and socially beneficial
3. potential market, create wealth, make a sensible decision
World Bank Boosts Entrepreneurs with Social Goals
It has been said that the best social program is a job. But a new generation of entrepreneurs is going beyond providing employment in developing nations to embracing and promoting social progress as part of their business model. With the backing of the World Bank, they are helping transform poverty-plagued regions from the Americas to Africa to Asia. VOA’s Michael Bowman reports from Washington, where a group of such entrepreneurs recently met with World Bank officials.
Seven years ago, Satyan Mishra launched a campaign to bring Internet access and web-related services to India’s vast rural areas—which are grossly under-served by the country’s main information and telecommunications providers. At first, he says, he faced formidable obstacles.
“India, fundamentally, is not a very entrepreneurial -friendly country. We have some great entrepreneurs in the cities, but in the villages it is very difficult to even think of doing something on your own. We have always looked at ourselves as a welfare economy.”
“Empowerment is directly against the bureaucratic system. The bureaucrats like people to be dependent on them. So if information is the key, if people have the knowledge, then they are not dependent. And that is not good for the bureaucrats.”
But Mishra’s idea caught the attention of the Grassroots Business Initiative of the International. Finance Corporation, an arm of the World Bank, which saw the initiative’s potential to link rural India to the global economy, boost access to information and services, and spawn commercial and socially beneficial activity.
GBI backed Mishra’s vision with financing and technical assistance. Today, his company, Drishtee, oversees a network of more than 1,500 Internet kiosks in villages across India, and aims to add thousands more in coming years.
While Mishra forged Drishtee, American entrepreneur Jeremy Hockenstein fell in love with Cambodia during a visit to Phnom Penh. Hockenstein, who has a background in information technology, launched a data entry firm in Cambodia with a unique business model.
“Our incoming employees are paid about three times the average income in the country. The heart of our program is that employees work half a day—work six hours a day and go to school the other six hours a day. So most of our employees are in their early 20s. This is a way for them to have both a first job experience and to further their education.”
The enterprise, called Digital Divide Data, also has the support of the Grassroots Business Initiative. DDD has almost single-handedly forged a new industry for Cambodia and helped generate further entrepreneurial activity.
“Former employees of ours have gone on to start other firms. And so I think we have played our role and I think we [demonstrated] that it is possible to have an IT
[information technology] sector. We can do this.”
Most new businesses require venture capital . But seed money is not always available in remote, underdeveloped regions of the world. Even where start-up funds are available, many investors ventures that emphasize social development rather than focusing exclusively on That is where the Grassroots Business Initiative comes in. GBI Director Harold Rosen says he is proud of both Drishtee and Digital Divide Data, and hopes they can serve as models for other ventures.
“There both of them are making big strides towards becoming self-sustaining businesses. But they are also doing something wonderful developmentally for people that, you know, usually do not get that much help out of the trickle-down [economic] approach.”
Other GBI-backed enterprises include a network of low cost pharmacies and clinics in Kenya, an association of female handicraft artisans in Swaziland, and an initiative to engage indigenous people of the Amazon in creating paper products from readily grown plants.
Rosen says he sees GBI as playing a role in a larger battle to promote sustainable development on the world stage.
“It’s fine to view the poor as a potential market, but they also need to create wealth. And, to take care of the poverty problem, we are going to have to find ways for people to stay with a sensible decision to stay in rural areas, and for ways for them to make a living, and maybe even better their lives.”
GBI’s services begin with a diagnostic phase in which business ventures are evaluated, and needs and obstacles identified. An action plan is then formed, with targets for business development and social goals, followed by an assistance program to launch and sustain the operation.
V ocabulary | 单词注释
Dictation Tips |听力难点
1. put on the map 形容地方变得著名，走进公众的视野。 The discovery of gold put our town on the map. 关于map. 常用的还有 off the map 形容地方湮没。 Whole cities were wiped off the map.
2. shy away from 逃避面对。 He shied away from this task.
3. the bottom line 财政报告中表示净收入或亏损的线。Bottom line 还表示最终的结果。 The bottom line, however, is that he has escaped. 还可表示关键的一点。 A lot can happen
between now and December, but the bottom line—for now—is that the city is still heading toward default.
Translation | 全文翻译
世界银行用社会目标激励企业家
人们说工作是最好的社会保障项目。然而新—代的企业家不局限于此，他们不仅给发展中国家人民提供就业机会，而且把促进社会进步看成是他们商业模式的一部分。有了世界银行的支持，他们正着手帮助从美洲到非洲再到亚洲的贫穷地区完成转型任务。这些企业家最近在华盛顿与世界银行的官员会面，下面是美国之音记者迈克·鲍曼的报道。
七年前米斯拉先生发起了给印度广大农村地区提供因特网及其它网络相关服务的运动，该国主要的信息和电讯提供商没能为这些地区提供优质服务。他说起初他碰到了不可逾越的障碍。
“基本来讲，印度是一个对企业家不太友好的国家。在城市我们有一些优秀的企业家，然而在农村很难想象自己独立做事。但我们还总是认为自己的经济是福利经济。”
他接着说：“权力下放（赋权）有违官僚体系的作风。官僚主义者想让人民依赖他们。如果信息是关键，如果人民拥有知识，那么他们就变得独立。这对官僚主义者不利。”
但米斯拉的构想引起了国际金融公司（世界银行一个重要部门）的草根商业计划的注意。该机构看到了米斯拉的构想有把印度农村经济和全球经济联系起来，提升其获得信息和服务的能力及促成有利于商业和社会的活动的潜力。
GBI 为米斯拉的构想提供融资和技术援助。目前，他的公司Drishtee 监管遍布印度农村的1500多个因特网服务站，公司还想在未来几年里增加几千个这样的服务站。
当米斯拉在建立Drishtee 公司时，有IT 背景的美国企业家杰拉米·哈根斯坦在金边之行后就恋上了柬埔寨，他在该国建立了一个商业模式独特的数据输入公司。
哈根斯坦说：”我们付给新来员工的薪水是全国平均工资的3倍。我们计划的核心是员工只需工作半天——每天工作6小时，另外6小时就可以上学。我们很多员工都只有20出头。这样一来他们既可获得工作经验又可继续深造。”
这个名为Digital Divide Data的企业也得到草根商业计划的支持。它几乎是单枪匹马为柬埔寨铸造一个新的行业，并且帮助组织企业家活动。
米斯拉说：“我们以前的雇员都自己开办公司了。因此我想我们已经起了带头作用，我想我们使柬埔寨重新得到关注，这表明建立IT 行业是有可能的。我们可以做到。”
大部分新业务要求要有风险资本。但边远落后地区启动资金并不易找到。即便在可得到创业资本地方，很多投资者都避开强调社会发展的风险投资，而更愿意投资只关注公司最基本发展的项目。
于是草根商业计划应运而生。GBI 主管哈罗德·罗森说他为Drishtee 和Digital Divide Data两家公司感到骄傲，并希望他们能够成为其它企业效仿的榜样。
他说道：“虽然说这两家公司都在努力使自己成为可持久发展的企业，但他们也为那些经常未能在利益扩散式经济中得到多少帮助的人民做了一些很有建设性的事。”
其它由GBI 支持的企业包括肯尼亚一个经营低消费药店和诊所的网络，斯威士兰的一个女性手艺技术工协会和一个旨在发动亚马孙本土人民用唾手可得的植物制造纸张的计划。
罗森说他认为GBI 在促进全球可持续发展这场更大的奋斗中起了一定的作用。
罗森说：“把穷困国家看成有潜力的市场是好事，但他们也要创造财富。而且，为了解决贫穷问题，我们不仅要找到出路使人们作出呆在农村地区的理智决定，而且要找到使他们能够谋生，甚至改善生活的出路。”
GBI 服务一开始会在其准备阶段评估商业资本和明确所需及障碍。然后确立一个为商业
发展和社会目标而定的行动计划，随之而来的是一个启动和维持此营运的协助项目。
Exercises | 即听即练
Fill in the blanks with the words you hear from the news:
1. Seven years ago, Satyan Mishra launched a campaign to bring and to India’s vast rural areas—which are grossly under-served by the country’s main 2. But Mishra’s idea caught the attention of the Grassroots Business Initiative of the International Finance Corporation, an arm of the , which saw the initiative’s potential to link rural India to the spawn activity.
3. It is fine to view the poor as a but they also need to . And, to take care of the poverty problem, we are going to have to find ways for people to to stay in rural areas.
1. Internet access, web-related services, information and telecommunications
2. World Bank, global economy, commercial and socially beneficial
3. potential market, create wealth, make a sensible decision