51³Ô¹Ï

Multi-stakeholder Consultations on Financing for Development
Dialogues organized by The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) in cooperation with the Financing for Development Office

“Strengthening the business sector and entrepreneurship in developing countries: the potential of diasporas”

• Experts Group Meeting on “Realizing the Potential of Diasporas to Reduce Poverty and Enhance Entrepreneurship”
  (New York, 13 May 2008)
  • Draft Agenda
• Workshop on “Diasporas and the business sector”
  (New York, 5-6 October 2006)
  • Working Agenda and Programme
  • Final Report

 

Presentations

Session I: Overview and setting the stage

Moderator: Mr. Rajat Gupta, Senior Partner Worldwide, McKinsey and Co

Speakers:

• 1.ÌýMr. Devesh Kapur, Professor and Director, Center for Advanced Study of India, University of Pennsylvania
• 2.ÌýMr. Yevgeny Kuznetsov, Senior Economist, World Bank
• 3.ÌýMr. Chukwu-Emeka Chikezie, Executive Director, African Foundation for Development, AFFORD

Session II: Strengthening linkages and facilitating trade, skills and knowledge transfer
Moderator: Mr. Barry Herman, Senior Fellow, New School of Social Research

Speakers:

• 1.ÌýMs. Jennifer Brinkerhoff, Associate Professor of Public Information and International Affairs, George Washington University;
• 2.ÌýMs. Wanja Michuki, Chief Executive Officer, Highland Tea Company
  
• 3.ÌýMs. T.A. Banjoko, Head, Africa Recruit
  
• 4.ÌýMs. Molly Pollack, Executive Director, Chile Global
  
• 5. Mr. Richard Tan, Chief Executive Officer, Pacific Millennium Corporation

Session III: Channeling finance
Moderator: Mr. Arun Kashyap, Private Sector Development Adviser, 51³Ô¹Ï Development Programme

Speakers:

• 1.ÌýMr. Kai Schmitz, Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer, Microfinance International Corporation
• 2.ÌýMr. Suni Munshani, Chief Executive Officer, Novitaz
• 3.ÌýMs. Marsha Wulff, Founder and Principal, Wulff Capital
  
• 4.ÌýMs. Lenora Suki, Associate Director, Center on Globalization and Sustainable Development, The Earth Institute at Columbia University

Session IV: Enabling policies and institutions
Moderator: Mr. Manuel Montes, Chief, Policy Analysis and Development Branch, Financing for Development Office, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 51³Ô¹Ï

Speakers:

• 1.ÌýMs. Nienke Stam, IntEnt
  
• 2.ÌýMs. Natasha Iskander, Assistant Professor of Public Policy, Wagner School of Public Policy, New York University
  
• 3.ÌýMs. Lisa Curtis, Private Sector Adviser, Department for International Development, Government of United Kingdom
  
• 4.ÌýMs. Liesl Riddle, Assistant Professor of International Business and International Affairs, George Washington University

 

Background information

•  1. In its resolution 60/188 of 22 December 2005, the General Assembly requested the Financing for Development Office to continue to organize workshops, multi-stakeholder consultations and panel discussions to examine issues related to the mobilization of resources for financing development and poverty eradication. In response to this mandate, the Financing for Development Office has engaged The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) to organize a multi-stakeholder workshop on “Strengthening the role of the business sector and entrepreneurship in developing countries: the potential of diasporas”.
• 2. A recurring theme throughout the Monterrey Consensus is the need to foster a dynamic and well-functioning business sector in developing countries. Within this context, increasing attention is being given in both public and private forums to the issue of how the growing diasporas from the developing world could promote the growth and development of businesses and entrepreneurship in their homelands. The two inter-related mechanisms through which the diasporas can play a role in strengthening the business sector in developing countries are, firstly, inflows of financial resources (i.e. collective remittances, equity and bond finance) and, secondly, their ability to transfer knowledge, strengthen skills and facilitate trade through their networks and contacts. While assessing what has already been done and the lessons to be learnt in terms of both the success stories and the obstacles that have been encountered, special focus will be given to what more needs to done to ensure that the diasporas’ financial and human resources are utilized to their maximum potential.
• 3. The workshop will be held on 5 October 2006 at UN Headquarters in New York and comprise practitioners and experts from the private sector, multilateral organizations (UN DESA, World Bank, Regional Development Banks, UNCTAD etc), governments and academia. It will be a closed expert group discussion, at which participants are encouraged to structure their debate around a flexible working agenda. On the following day, 6 October 2006, the participants will brief UN delegates in an open plenary session on the findings and outcomes of the discussions held during the previous day and encourage feedback from member states.
• 4. This workshop is envisioned to trigger some follow-up multi-stakeholder consultations, perhaps at the regional level. The findings and recommendations of the workshop and any follow-up consultations, as well as practical achievements such as initiatives that may have been generated, will be discussed at a number of high-profile forums, including the UN High-Level Dialogue on Financing for Development that will take place in 2007 (a ministerial-level meeting).