US promotes business in conflict regions
Entrepreneurs as well as small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in conflict regions like Mindanao can have their projects marketed to a broad network of investors, donors, lenders or contributors in the United States, courtesy of the U.S. State Department.
The program, called Economic Empowerment in Strategic Regions (EESR), is a job creation initiative launched by the U.S. State Department in January 2008. It is focused on conflict regions.
"What we want to do is find the people who are already in business, they're already engaged in commercial activities but they need help to do more and create jobs," Stephen B. Kaplitt, EESR director, said in a phone interview.
Two proposals from Mindanao, involving agriculture-related ventures, have been submitted along with about 50 others largely from Pakistan, Iraq and Afghanistan. Except for two projects, a flour mill in Afghanistan and a medical laboratory in Iraq that are being actively marketed in the EESR website, most proposals are either under review or in project development.
Under the program, if a proposal meets basic criteria, it is assigned to a team of volunteer MBA students who then work with the project proponent on developing a business plan. When this process is done, the project is posted on the EESR website and actively marketed to the U.S. private sector.
EESR taps MBA student expertise from Washington, D.C.-based George Washington University and American University; as well as University of Notre Dame in Indiana, and Cornell University in New York, for project development. To market the projects posted on its website, EESR gets help from the U.S. Commerce Department and the Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy (ACIEP) which has a subcommittee led by Gen. Daniel Christman, head of international affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, directly involved with the program. ACIEP is composed of the U.S. private sector, non-governmental organizations, the academic community and business leaders that have rotating membership in the committee.
Kaplitt pointed out that EESR is not part of U.S. official development assistance and thus provides no U.S. government funding upfront. It also steers clear of microfinance ventures, projects that are not original ideas by local entrepreneurs but rather imposed by an NGO or a foreign company or government, as well as charity and fund-raising projects. Otherwise, the business facilitation program is open to anyone with a plan who is located in a conflict region or an investor from foreign diaspora communities.
"We just want to give these entrepreneurs a fair shot to connect with a broad range of partners because again were not starting with U.S. government funding," Kaplitt said.
"Our approach is different because were really offering free labor and a platform to market proposals. We don"t guarantee success, we don"t guarantee that proposals will make it to our website since they may not comply with our basic requirements and even if they do, we dont guarantee that we will get any matches. So its a somewhat unusual approach for a government program."
What it does provide is vast opportunity for a local project to flourish not just with one but multiple partners. We are filling a gap that no one else is reaching within the U.S. government. Our focus begins not with U.S. government money and not with what U.S. business wants, but with identifying who the local entrepreneurs are, matching them with volunteer MBA students to help them develop their idea and then being their advocate to go out and market their proposal, and try and connect them with partners and resources that they otherwise would not be able to reach out to, according to Kaplitt.
Being on pilot status, it remains to be seen if EESR would be adopted by the incoming Obama administration. Until Jan. 20, 2009, project proposals can be sent directly to Kaplitt. Post Bush era, EESR will be handled by the Office of Bilateral Affairs at the Economics Bureau of the State Department until its fate is ascertained.
"We have very significant pockets of support in USAID [U.S. Agency for International Development], within the U.S. military, within the various U.S. government agencies and offices that are involved in these regions. It could be they are trying to do development or assisting with security or political reform. But to be candid, there are others within the U.S. government who are skeptical and they are skeptical not because they do not agree with the ultimate objective but about whether this kind of strategy can really deliver results", Kaplitt said.
He said results from the first two proposals posted this month, the medical lab in Iraq and the flour mill in Afghanistan, will provide an early indication of the programs efficacy. But in his view, EESR itself has been groundbreaking in harnessing a broader network of U.S. resources to create jobs where terrorism thrives on poverty and sheer lack of opportunities. (PNA)