24Q&A SessionTHE ASIA THINK TANK DIALOGUE REPORTRebuilding Confidence, Restoring LivelihoodsDr. Thomas TangExecutive Director, Global Institute for Tomorrow(GIFT), Hong Kong.Citing an experience from rural banking, Dr. Tangsaid <strong>the</strong>re were two factors inhibiting its growth– <strong>the</strong> nature <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> rural Chinese countryside, where<strong>the</strong>re wasn’t a culture <strong>of</strong> micro-finance compared too<strong>the</strong>r economies such as Bangladesh, and <strong>the</strong> lack <strong>of</strong>banking licences which were very sparsely given. Dueto heavy protection<strong>is</strong>m for local banks, foreign bankswere not allowed to play a role. Therefore <strong>the</strong>re wereboth cultural and institutional barriers, in h<strong>is</strong> view.Mr. Benjamin Quinones, Jr.Chairman, CSRME Asia / Institute <strong>of</strong> Small ScaleIndustries, University <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Philippines, Manila.Mr. Quinones bemoaned <strong>the</strong> fact that <strong>the</strong> poorhave always understood cr<strong>is</strong><strong>is</strong> -- becausewhe<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong>y were in a global economic cr<strong>is</strong><strong>is</strong> or not,<strong>the</strong>y were always facing cr<strong>is</strong><strong>is</strong> in one form or ano<strong>the</strong>r.He noted that <strong>the</strong> poor were good clients for microcreditand he believed <strong>the</strong>refore that investing in <strong>the</strong>poor was <strong>the</strong> best form <strong>of</strong> investment in times <strong>of</strong> cr<strong>is</strong><strong>is</strong>.He agreed that governments tended to bail out largeorgan<strong>is</strong>ations who did not know how to handle cr<strong>is</strong>es.However, <strong>the</strong> poor who knew how to handle cr<strong>is</strong>esas a way <strong>of</strong> life, received no support whatsoever viagovernment bail-out programmes.Mr. Partha RudraProgrammes Director, National Foundation for IndiaExpanding on <strong>the</strong> point on micro-credit, Mr. Rudraargued that while <strong>the</strong>re was no doubt that <strong>the</strong>poorest and <strong>the</strong> base borrowers were deserving,micro-credit alone would not work. He said <strong>the</strong>re wasa need to look at micro-finance, savings facilities,insurance, <strong>the</strong> people’s capacity to absorb that kind<strong>of</strong> money, and <strong>the</strong> need for education along withcapacity-building as ingredients for success.Dr. Ar<strong>is</strong> AnantaSenior Research Fellow, ISEAS, Singapore.Turning to Indonesia, Dr. Ananta said its problem wasthat <strong>the</strong> poverty rate remained high at 16 per cent.Absolute numbers were vague because populationnumbers were also vague, he said. Indonesia hadbeen successful in family planning but as a result it wasbeginning to see ageing populations, especially in <strong>the</strong>rural areas. The rural areas demonstrated real depths<strong>of</strong> poverty and severity <strong>of</strong> poverty. As for <strong>the</strong> effects<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> global financial cr<strong>is</strong><strong>is</strong>, urban communities wouldsay <strong>the</strong>y were worse <strong>of</strong>f than <strong>the</strong> rural communities,but he believed <strong>the</strong> rural poor would always pay<strong>the</strong> price. He also believed that poverty reductionschemes were <strong>of</strong>ten m<strong>is</strong>-targetted and he hopedthat efforts would be made to ensure that leakageswould not be <strong>the</strong> case when tackling poverty.‘All stakeholders must remainfocused on <strong>the</strong> ethics and morality<strong>of</strong> labour mobility, ensuring <strong>the</strong>re <strong>is</strong>freedom from fear’ – Dr. Ar<strong>is</strong> AnantaIn solving <strong>the</strong> problems associated with poverty, Dr.Ananta argued for <strong>the</strong> development <strong>of</strong> capacity whileexpressing concern that governments would providean environment <strong>of</strong> dependency instead. He urgedfor more attention towards health matters, whichwent beyond <strong>the</strong> healthcare system. For instance,preventive campaigns, clean water, cleanlinessand sanitation should be <strong>of</strong> primary importance inaddressing rural problems. All stakeholders, he said,should engage in improving education systems,remaining focused on <strong>the</strong> ethics and morality <strong>of</strong>labour mobility, ensuring <strong>the</strong>re <strong>is</strong> freedom from fearand creating an investment climate in <strong>the</strong> rural areas.A healthy investment climate, he posited, includedsmall-scale enterpr<strong>is</strong>es and poor people, not just <strong>the</strong>foreign and big companies alone.
THE ASIA THINK TANK DIALOGUE REPORTRebuilding Confidence, Restoring Livelihoods Q&A Session 25Rapporteurs hard at work - L-R: Ms Khairiah Mokhtaruddin; Noel Navin Dass and Ms Jean Wong observing <strong>the</strong> d<strong>is</strong>cussionDr. S. ManivasakanHead in Charge, Centre for South and South East<strong>Asian</strong> Studies, University <strong>of</strong> Madras, IndiaDr. Manivasakan spoke <strong>of</strong> India’s experience inrural development programmes and how <strong>the</strong>sewere implemented for poverty eradication. The firstfocused on agriculture, where facilities, loans forfarmers, educational opportunities, and peer supportgroups run by women were among <strong>the</strong> initiativesunder th<strong>is</strong> scheme. For instance, <strong>the</strong> Tamil NaduGovernment waived all co-operative farm loans,<strong>the</strong>reby rejuvenating <strong>the</strong> farming sector. In ano<strong>the</strong>rexample, <strong>the</strong> abol<strong>is</strong>hment <strong>of</strong> common entrance textfor pr<strong>of</strong>essional courses by <strong>the</strong> state governmenthas facilitated an increase in number <strong>of</strong> studentsfrom rural and poor families to have access totechnical education. A number <strong>of</strong> welfare schemeswere also introduced and implemented to aid <strong>the</strong>d<strong>is</strong>abled, including mentally-d<strong>is</strong>abled minorities andtribes. For example, free gas stoves and free gasconnections were given by <strong>the</strong> state government in<strong>the</strong> women’s welfare schemes, and encouragementfor self-help groups were given for nearly 1163self-help groups for d<strong>is</strong>abled persons. However,<strong>the</strong> major hurdle was when <strong>the</strong> money allocatedwas not received by <strong>the</strong> people for whom it wasintended, with approximately 70 per cent <strong>of</strong>allocations resulting in leakages. He also spoke <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>need to address <strong>the</strong> malfunctioning <strong>of</strong> governmentm<strong>is</strong>sionaries and to take <strong>the</strong> lead on <strong>the</strong> Right toInformation act.Dr. Durga P. PaudyalDirector-General, Centre on Integrated RuralDevelopment for Asia & <strong>the</strong> Pacific (CIRDAP),Bangladesh.Rural development policies and institutionsremained a low priority in <strong>the</strong> region, accordingto Dr. Paudyal who noted that th<strong>is</strong>, along withmalfunctioning <strong>of</strong> institutions and <strong>the</strong> lack <strong>of</strong>d<strong>is</strong>tribution <strong>of</strong> powers and political support, resulted inweak rural institutions.He also observed that <strong>the</strong> size <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> rural area had