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In an emerging economy like Myanmar, how can development be hastened and reduce, if not totally eradicate poverty? Prof. Mohammad Yunus, Nobel laureate and founder of Grameen Bank shared his experience in a forum in Yangon organized by actionaid, an international NGO, the National Economic and Social Advisory Council (NESAC) and the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI). He emphasized financial inclusion and entrepreneurship as among the most important elements in developing small and medium enterprises (SME) in the country. The gist of his talk:

It was not a pleasant experience to witness people dying of hunger. Coming back from the US to teach at the Chittagong University, seeing widespread poverty in his country was life-changing. He asked himself how he can be of help to improve the lives of people. His reflections made him to conclude that most of the things you learn in the classrooms clashes with reality.

As we get educated, we “fly” higher and observe the world from a distance. We call this the bird’s eye view, where we see wide and thought we have seen everything. We see a lot but not much and lead us to do sweeping generalizations which made the problem harder to address. This perspective detach us you from reality.

At the ground level, it is different. As we go to the communities, we set eyes on individual persons. We know them and feel their sufferings and see their struggles. This is what we call the worm’s eye view. This is more powerful because we catch a glimpse of tiny little bits of the problem. Tiny in the sense that it refers to individual persons. We see the life of an individual which is easier to address because it is only one.

The worm’s eye view allowed him to view things in a different perspective. He saw loan sharks controlling the lives of the people, a cruel system draining the energy of the poor. He was happy to lend them himself until it grew to where it has to be done in a more organized manner. The worm’s eye view allowed him to develop a methodology different from those with bird’s eye view perspectives.

The approaches developed were considered unconventional.
• They loaned money to people without money, when traditional banks lend only to people with properties and money to pay back;
• They loaned without collateral, when loans must be secured;
• They brought banking services to the doorsteps of the clients, when standard bank services require clients to go to bank premises to be served;
• The clients owned the bank, when commercial banks are reserved only for those who have money.
These approaches developed the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh which now served 8.4 million borrowers, 97% of whom are women lending more than US$8 billion. It has turned the banking service upside down and became the model of microfinance in many countries.

After building the institution that provides financial services, building up enterprises that provides employment is the next agenda. Entrepreneurship is inherent in all of us especially the poor. However, entrepreneurial spirit is pushed down inside of the person and comes out after the person is inspired to do so. This happens when the system around us does not encourage entrepreneurial spirit to thrive and flourish.

Grameen Bank has involved in social businesses that have also promoted entrepreneurship among its members. Some of these are:

• Technology. In partnership with Telenor, Grameen Phone was launched where the village telephone lady provided service for everyone who wanted to call. It has since then become the biggest phone company in Bangladesh;

• Health services. Ultrasound and consultation through tablets to reduce death during pregnancies. Now an app for ECG to be installed in the cell phone is being considered.

• Energy. Distribution of solar home systems. Since 18 years ago, now the company sold 1.5 solar home systems.

• Food. To address malnutrition, we partnered with a company to produce yoghurt with vitamins and minerals.

Other ideas are being considered the Social Business Fund is being set up. In the universities, students were now taught to have options – to make profits or to make people happy by doing social businesses that help improve living conditions. This is the continuing effort that each one should pursue.

From the experience of Prof. Yunus and Grameen Bank, it is imperative that financial infrastructure should be developed first. Facilitating access to financial services will empower the poor as they will generate income and consume products and services that will increase demand. It is in this context that the further strengthening of microfinance institutions and other community-based organizations like cooperatives and self-help groups should be prioritized.

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