ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Iqbal Quadir - Founder, GrameenPhone
Iqbal Quadir is an advocate of business as a humanitarian tool. With GrameenPhone, he brought the first commercial telecom services to poor areas of Bangladesh. His latest project will help rural entrepreneurs build power plants.

Why you should listen

As a kid in rural Bangladesh in 1971, Iqbal Quadir had to walk half a day to another village to find the doctor -- who was not there. Twenty years later he felt the same frustration while working at a New York bank, using diskettes to share information during a computer network breakdown. His epiphany: In both cases, "connectivity is productivity." Had he been able to call the doctor, it would have saved him hours of walking for nothing.

Partnering with microcredit pioneer GrameenBank, in 1997 Quadir established GrameenPhone, a wireless operator now offering phone services to 80 million rural Bangladeshi. It's become the model for a bottom-up, tech-empowered approach to development. "Phones have a triple impact," Quadir says. "They provide business opportunities; connect the village to the world; and generate over time a culture of entrepreneurship, which is crucial for any economic development."

More profile about the speaker
Iqbal Quadir | Speaker | TED.com
TEDGlobal 2005

Iqbal Quadir: How mobile phones can fight poverty

伊卡柏·卡迪尔(Iqbal Quadir): 手机是战胜贫穷的利器

Filmed:
589,394 views

伊卡柏·卡迪尔(Iqbal Quadir)讲述了他童年在贫穷的孟加拉国以及之后在纽约作为银行家的经历。这些经历促使他筹建了一家手机运营商,连接孟加拉8000万农村人口,并成为自下而上发展的倡导者。
- Founder, GrameenPhone
Iqbal Quadir is an advocate of business as a humanitarian tool. With GrameenPhone, he brought the first commercial telecom services to poor areas of Bangladesh. His latest project will help rural entrepreneurs build power plants. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:25
I'll just take you to Bangladesh孟加拉国 for a minute分钟.
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先请大家观看一段有关孟加拉的视频。
01:07
Before I tell that story故事, we should ask ourselves我们自己 the question:
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在我开始演讲之前,我想请大家先思考一个问题。
01:10
Why does poverty贫穷 exist存在?
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贫穷为什么会存在?
01:12
I mean, there is plenty丰富 of knowledge知识 and scientific科学 breakthroughs突破.
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我是说,人类实现了许多知识和科技的突破。
01:17
We all live生活 in the same相同 planet行星,
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我们生活在同一星球,
01:20
but there's still a great deal合同 of poverty贫穷 in the world世界.
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但世界上仍存在许多贫穷的地方。
01:22
And I think -- so I want to throw a perspective透视 that I have,
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我想先谈谈我的观点,
01:26
so that we can assess评估 this project项目, or any other project项目, for that matter,
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然后看看我的项目或者其他项目,
01:33
to see whether是否 it's contributing贡献 or --
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究竟是拉大
01:36
contributing贡献 to poverty贫穷 or trying to alleviate缓和 it.
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还是缩小了贫富差距。
01:38
Rich丰富 countries国家 have been sending发出 aid援助 to poor较差的 countries国家 for the last 60 years年份.
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60年来,富国一直为穷国提供援助。
01:43
And by and large, this has failed失败.
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总体来说,这些努力并未收到成效。
01:46
And you can see this book,
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大家可以看看这本书,
01:48
written书面 by someone有人 who worked工作 in the World世界 Bank银行 for 20 years年份,
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作者曾为世界银行工作了20年。
01:51
and he finds认定 economic经济 growth发展 in this country国家 to be elusive难以捉摸.
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他发现,这个国家难以实现经济增长。
01:56
By and large, it did not work.
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总的来说,这些援助对经济增长并不奏效。
01:59
So the question is, why is that?
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问题是,为什么?
02:03
In my mind心神, there is something to learn学习 from the history历史 of Europe欧洲.
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在我看来,我们可以从欧洲的历史得到启发。
02:08
I mean, even here, yesterday昨天 I was walking步行 across横过 the street,
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我是说,即使在这里,昨天我过马路的地方,
02:12
and they showed显示 three bishops主教 were executed执行 500 years年份 ago,
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就是三位主教在500年前被处死的地方。
02:16
right across横过 the street from here.
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就在街对面。
02:18
So my point is, there's a lot of struggle斗争 has gone走了 in Europe欧洲,
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我想说的是,在欧洲,人们经历过许多斗争,
02:22
where citizens公民 were empowered授权 by technologies技术.
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他们由于技术的进步而变得更有力量。
02:25
And they demanded要求 authorities当局 from --
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他们要求至高的权威
02:28
to come down from their high horses马匹.
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走下神坛。
02:31
And in the end结束, there's better bargaining议价
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最终,权威与公民之间的地位
02:34
between之间 the authorities当局 and citizens公民,
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发生了变化
02:37
and democracies民主, capitalism资本主义 -- everything else其他 flourished蓬勃发展.
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民主、资本主义和一切其他的制度得到充分发展。
02:40
And so you can see, the real真实 process处理 of --
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所以大家可以看到这样一个过程,
02:43
and this is backed已备份 up by this 500-page-页 book --
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这本长达500页的书也支持这一结论,
02:47
that the authorities当局 came来了 down and citizens公民 got up.
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权威地位下降,而公民地位上升。
02:52
But if you look, if you have that perspective透视,
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但是,如果你持这样一个观点,
02:55
then you can see what happened发生 in the last 60 years年份.
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可以看看过去60年来发生的事件。
02:58
Aid援助 actually其实 did the opposite对面.
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援助所起的作用恰恰相反。
03:01
It empowered授权 authorities当局,
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它使权威的地位得到巩固和加强。
03:03
and, as a result结果, marginalized边缘化 citizens公民.
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而公民却因此被边缘化。
03:06
The authorities当局 did not have the reason原因 to make economic经济 growth发展 happen发生
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权威并没有理由为征收更多税赋
03:09
so that they could tax people
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而推动经济发展,
03:12
and make more money for to run their business商业.
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并聚集财富发展自己的商业。
03:16
Because they were getting得到 it from abroad国外.
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因为他们能从海外得到资金援助。
03:19
And in fact事实, if you see oil-rich石油资源丰富 countries国家,
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事实上, 在那些石油资源国中,
03:23
where citizens公民 are not yet然而 empowered授权, the same相同 thing goes --
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这些国家的人民缺乏自主权,情况也是如此。
03:26
Nigeria尼日利亚, Saudi沙特 Arabia阿拉伯, all sorts排序 of countries国家.
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诸如尼日利亚、沙特阿拉伯都在这些国家之列。
03:29
Because the aid援助 and oil or mineral矿物 money acts行为 the same相同 way.
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因为援助、石油或矿产的作用相同。
03:34
It empowers如虎添翼 authorities当局, without activating激活 the citizens公民 --
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它们强化权威,但并未激发公民的作用,
03:38
their hands, legs, brains大脑, what have you.
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包括他们的手脚,头脑和拥有的资源。
03:42
And if you agree同意 with that, then I think the best最好 way to improve提高 these countries国家
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如果你们同意这一观点,我认为改善这些国家状况的最好方法,
03:48
is to recognize认识 that economic经济 development发展 is of the people,
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是认识到经济发展的本质是民有、
03:51
by the people, for the people.
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民治和民享。
03:54
And that is the real真实 network网络 effect影响.
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这才是真正的网络效应。
03:56
If citizens公民 can network网络 and make themselves他们自己 more organized有组织的 and productive生产的,
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如果公民能通过形成网络而更有组织、更具生产力
04:00
so that their voices声音 are heard听说,
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从而能表达民声,
04:02
so then things would improve提高.
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情况将会得以改善。
04:04
And to contrast对比 that, you can see the most important重要 institution机构 in the world世界,
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与之形成对比的是,作为世界上最为重要的机构,
04:09
the World世界 Bank银行, is an organization组织 of the government政府,
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世界银行是政府组织,
04:13
by the government政府, for the governments政府.
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由政府运营、为政府谋利。
04:16
Just see the contrast对比.
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对比非常明显。
04:18
And that is the perspective透视 I have, and then I can start开始 my story故事.
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这就是我的出发点,接下来讲一讲我的故事。
04:23
Of course课程, how would you empower授权 citizens公民?
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如何才能赋予公民更多的主动权?
04:26
There could be all sorts排序 of technologies技术. And one is cell细胞 phones手机.
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我们可以利用各种各样的技术,手机就是其中之一。
04:28
Recently最近 "The Economist经济学家" recognized认可 this,
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最近,《经济学家》发表文章,认识到了这一点,
04:31
but I stumbled迷迷糊糊 upon the idea理念 12 years年份 ago,
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而我在12年前就偶然想到了这一点,
04:36
and that's what I've been working加工 on.
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并且一直以来致力于此。
04:42
So 12 years年份 ago, I was trying to be an investment投资 banker银行家 in New York纽约.
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12年前,我曾经试图成为纽约的一名投资银行家。
04:45
We had -- quite相当 a few少数 our colleagues同事 were connected连接的 by a computer电脑 network网络.
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我和一些同事在计算机网络上相互连接。
04:53
And we got more productive生产的 because we didn't have to exchange交换 floppy软盘 disks磁盘;
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由于不需要交换软盘,我们变得更有效率,
05:00
we could update更新 each other more often经常.
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相互交流也更为频繁。
05:04
But one time it broke打破 down.
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但有一次,网络崩溃了。
05:06
And it reminded提醒 me of a day in 1971.
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这使我想起1971年的一天。
05:10
There was a war战争 going on in my country国家.
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那时,我的祖国正经历一场战争,
05:14
And my family家庭 moved移动 out of an urban城市的 place地点, where we used to live生活,
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我们家从之前所住的城市
05:17
to a remote远程 rural乡村 area where it was safer更安全.
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搬到了更为安全的偏远郊区。
05:21
And one time my mother母亲 asked me to get some medicine医学 for a younger更年轻 sibling兄弟.
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记得有一次,我母亲让我去为家中一个更小的孩子买药。
05:24
And I walked 10 miles英里 or so, all morning早上, to get there, to the medicine医学 man.
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我花了一上午的时间,走了大约10英里,才来到了卖药人的家。
05:31
And he wasn't there, so I walked all afternoon下午 back.
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可那里没人,于是我又花了一下午的时间走回家。
05:34
So I had another另一个 unproductive非生产性 day.
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这是毫无作为的一天。
05:36
So while I was sitting坐在 in a tall building建造 in New York纽约,
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所以,当我坐在纽约一幢高楼里的时候,
05:39
I put those two experiences经验 together一起 side by side,
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我将这两次经历比较了一下,
05:42
and basically基本上 concluded总结 that connectivity连接 is productivity生产率 --
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基本得出一个结论,那就是,连线就是效率,
05:45
whether是否 it's in a modern现代 office办公室 or an underdeveloped发育不全的 village.
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无论是在现代化的办公室还是在落后的村庄。
05:50
So naturally自然, I -- the implication意义 of that is
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所以,这很自然地意味着,
05:53
that the telephone电话 is a weapon武器 against反对 poverty贫穷.
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电话是消除贫穷的武器。
05:58
And if that's the case案件, then the question is
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如果是这样,问题在于,
06:00
how many许多 telephones电话 did we have at that time?
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当时我们有多少电话?
06:04
And it turns out, that there was one telephone电话 in Bangladesh孟加拉国
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结果发现,当时在孟加拉,
06:09
for every一切 500 people.
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每500人仅有1部电话。
06:11
And all those phones手机 were in the few少数 urban城市的 places地方.
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而且所有电话都集中在在少数几个城区。
06:15
The vast广大 rural乡村 areas, where 100 million百万 people lived生活,
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有1亿多人居住的广阔农村,
06:18
there were no telephones电话.
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根本没有电话。
06:21
So just imagine想像 how many许多 man-months人月 or man-years人年 are wasted浪费,
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可以想像,有多少人像我浪费了那一天那样,
06:24
just like I wasted浪费 a day.
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浪费了几个月,甚至几年。
06:27
If you just multiply by 100 million百万 people, let's say losing失去 one day a month,
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如果每人每月浪费一天,乘以1亿人,
06:31
whatever随你, and you see a vast广大 amount of resource资源 wasted浪费.
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可以看到大量的资源都被浪费了。
06:35
And after all, poor较差的 countries国家, like rich丰富 countries国家, one thing we've我们已经 got equal等于,
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毕竟,穷国和富国至少在一项资源上是平等的
06:38
is their days are the same相同 length长度: 24 hours小时.
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那就是一天24小时的时间。
06:41
So if you lose失去 that precious珍贵 resource资源,
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如果丧失了这一宝贵资源,
06:44
where you are somewhat有些 equal等于 to the richer更丰富 countries国家,
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而原本与富国之间并无差距,
06:47
that's a huge巨大 waste浪费.
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这将是巨大的浪费。
06:50
So I started开始 looking for any evidence证据 that --
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所以,我开始寻找证据,
06:54
does connectivity连接 really increase增加 productivity生产率?
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检验连线是否能增加效率。
06:58
And I couldn't不能 find much, really, but I found发现 this graph图形 produced生成 by the ITU国际电信联盟,
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然而,事实上我并没有找到许多证据,但发现了
07:02
which哪一个 is the International国际 Telecommunication电信 Union联盟, based基于 in Geneva日内瓦.
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总部设在日内瓦的国际电信联盟发布的这张图表。
07:08
They show显示 an interesting有趣 thing.
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它说明了一个有趣的现象。
07:11
That you see, the horizontal axis is where you place地点 your country国家.
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大家看,横轴代表国家。
07:15
So the United联合的 States状态 or the UK联合王国 would be here, outside.
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比如美国、英国在这里,图表以外。
07:18
And so the impact碰撞 of one new telephone电话,
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竖轴表示每增加一部新电话的作用,
07:22
which哪一个 is on the vertical垂直 axis, is very little.
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在这些国家非常小。
07:27
But if you come back to a poorer country国家, where the GNP国民生产总值 per capita人头 is,
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但如果大家看欠发达国家,
07:30
let's say, 500 dollars美元, or 300 dollars美元,
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假设人均国民生产总值仅500美元或300美元,
07:33
then the impact碰撞 is huge巨大: 6,000 dollars美元. Or 5,000 dollars美元.
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每增加一部新电话的作用非常明显:6000美元或5000美元。
07:40
The question was,
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问题是,
07:41
how much did it cost成本 to install安装 a new telephone电话 in Bangladesh孟加拉国?
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在孟加拉安装一部新电话的成本是多少?
07:45
It turns out: 2,000 dollars美元.
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结果发现,需要2000美元。
07:49
So if you spend 2,000 dollars美元, and let's say the telephone电话 lasts持续 10 years年份,
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所以,如果花2000美元安装一部电话,假设可以用10年,
07:52
and if 5,000 dollars美元 every一切 year -- so that's 50,000 dollars美元.
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每年增加5000美元的人均国民生产总值,10年就是50000美元。
07:55
So obviously明显 this was a gadget小工具 to have.
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很明显,电话的作用不可忽视。
07:59
And of course课程, if the cost成本 of installing安装 a telephone电话 is going down,
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当然,如果随着数字革命的发展,
08:04
because there's a digital数字 revolution革命 going on,
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安装一部电话的成本下降,
08:06
then it would be even more dramatic戏剧性.
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其产生的作用将更大。
08:10
And I knew知道 a little economics经济学 by then --
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当时,我对经济学也略知一二。
08:13
it says Adam亚当 Smith工匠 taught us that specialization专业化 leads引线 to productivity生产率.
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亚当•史密斯告诉我们,分工能提高生产力。
08:16
But how would you specialize专攻?
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但是如何进行分工呢?
08:19
Let's say I'm a fisherman and a farmer农民.
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假如我是渔民和农场主,
08:23
And Chris克里斯 is a fisherman farmer农民. Both are generalists多面手.
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克里斯也是渔民和农场主。 我们都可以做很多生意。
08:29
So the point is that we could only -- the only way we could depend依靠 on each other,
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我们之间只有通过相互联系,
08:33
is if we can connect with each other.
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才能相互依靠。
08:36
And if we are neighbors邻居, I could just walk步行 over to his house.
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如果我们是邻居,我可以走到他家。
08:41
But then we are limiting限制 our economic经济 sphere领域 to something very small area.
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但即便如此,我们只能将生意局限在非常小的区域。
08:45
But in order订购 to expand扩大 that, you need a river,
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为了拓展生意,需要一条河,
08:48
or you need a highway高速公路, or you need telephone电话 lines线.
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一条高速公路,或者电话。
08:50
But in any event事件, it's connectivity连接 that leads引线 to dependability可靠性.
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无论如何,相互连接才能相互依靠,
08:55
And that leads引线 to specialization专业化.
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从而实现专业分工,
08:57
That leads引线 to productivity生产率.
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继而提高生产力。
08:59
So the question was, I started开始 looking at this issue问题,
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所以,我开始反复思考这一问题
09:03
and going back and forth向前 between之间 Bangladesh孟加拉国 and New York纽约.
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并往返于孟加拉和纽约之间。
09:05
There were a lot of reasons原因 people told me
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人们告诉我
09:09
why we don't have enough足够 telephones电话.
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许多没有足够电话的原因。
09:12
And one of them is the lacking不足 buying购买 power功率.
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其中之一是缺乏购买力。
09:14
Poor较差的 people apparently显然地 don't have the power功率 to buy购买.
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显然,穷人买不起电话 。
09:17
But the point is, if it's a production生产 tool工具, why do we have to worry担心 about that?
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关键是,如果电话能提高生产力,我们为什么要为此担心呢?
09:20
I mean, in America美国, people buy购买 cars汽车,
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我的意思是,在美国,人们购买汽车,
09:23
and they put very little money down.
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并不需要一次付清很多现款。
09:26
They get a car汽车, and they go to work.
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他们买了汽车,开车上班,
09:29
The work pays支付 them a salary薪水;
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并用上班挣来的薪水
09:32
the salary薪水 allows允许 them to pay工资 for the car汽车 over time.
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分期支付汽车款。
09:35
The car汽车 pays支付 for itself本身.
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以车养车。
09:36
So if the telephone电话 is a production生产 tool工具,
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所以,如果电话是生产工具,
09:39
then we don't quite相当 have to worry担心 about the purchasing购买 power功率.
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我们不需要过于担心购买力。
09:42
And of course课程, even if that's true真正, then what about initial初始 buying购买 power功率?
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当然即便如此,最初的购买力从哪里来?
09:47
So then the question is, why can't we have some kind of shared共享 access访问?
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那么,为什么不可以几人合用一部电话呢?
09:52
In the United联合的 States状态, we have -- everybody每个人 needs需求 a banking银行业 service服务,
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在美国,每个人都需要银行服务,
09:56
but very few少数 of us are trying to buy购买 a bank银行.
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但很少有人想要买下一家银行。
09:59
So it's -- a bank银行 tends趋向 to serve服务 a whole整个 community社区.
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所以,一家银行为许多客户服务。
10:03
So we could do that for telephones电话.
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对于电话,我们也可以采用相同的办法。
10:06
And also people told me that we have a lot of important重要 primary needs需求 to meet遇到:
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此外,人们告诉我,他们有许多基本的需求需要满足,
10:11
food餐饮, clothing服装, shelter庇护, whatever随你.
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吃、穿、住等等。
10:14
But again, it's very paternalistic家长式.
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但是,这是一种非常家长主义的做法。
10:16
You should be raising提高 income收入
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应该提高收入,
10:19
and let people decide决定 what they want to do with their money.
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让人们自己决定如何支配他们的财富。
10:24
But the real真实 problem问题 is the lack缺乏 of other infrastructures基础设施.
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真正的问题在于缺乏其他一些基础设施。
10:27
See, you need some kind of infrastructure基础设施 to bring带来 a new thing.
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促使人们接纳新事物需要一些基础设施。
10:32
For instance, the Internet互联网 was booming繁荣 in the U.S.
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比如,互联网在美国发展得如火如荼,
10:35
because there were -- there were people who had computers电脑.
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因为人们有电脑。
10:38
They had modems调制解调器.
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他们有调制解调器。
10:40
They had telephone电话 lines线, so it's very easy简单 to bring带来 in a new idea理念, like the Internet互联网.
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他们有电话线,所以很容易接纳新概念,比如互联网。
10:44
But that's what's lacking不足 in a poor较差的 country国家.
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不发达国家缺少的正是这种基础设施。
10:47
So for example, we didn't have ways方法 to have credit信用 checks检查,
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比如,人们无法查询信用记录,
10:49
few少数 banks银行 to collect搜集 bills票据, etc等等.
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很少有银行提供代收费服务,诸如此类,不一而足。
10:54
But that's why I noticed注意到 Grameen格莱珉 Bank银行, which哪一个 is a bank银行 for poor较差的 people,
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但这也正是为什么我会注意到孟加拉乡村银行。这家银行为穷人服务,
10:57
and had 1,100 branches分支机构, 12,000 employees雇员, 2.3 million百万 borrowers借款人.
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拥有大约1100家分行,12000名员工和230万贷款人。
11:04
And they had these branches分支机构.
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他们有这些分行。
11:06
I thought I could put cell细胞 towers and create创建 a network网络.
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我想,可以通过基站将这些分行连接成一个网络。
11:11
And anyway无论如何, to cut the time short -- so I started开始 --
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长话多说。之后,我开始
11:15
I first went to them and said,
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到银行与他们谈谈我的想法。
11:18
"You know, perhaps也许 I could connect all your branches分支机构 and make you more efficient高效."
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“你知道,也许我可以将你们所有的分行连接起来,使你们的工作更有效率。”
11:21
But you know, they have, after all, evolved进化 in a country国家 without telephones电话,
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但是,要知道,他们毕竟在一个没有电话的国家里,
11:25
so they are decentralized分散. I mean, of course课程 there might威力 be other good reasons原因,
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所以实行分散管理。我想,当然有其他原因,
11:30
but this was one of the reasons原因 -- they had to be.
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但这一定是原因之一。
11:32
And so they were not that interested有兴趣 to connect all their branches分支机构,
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他们对于将所有分行连成网络的想法并不感兴趣,
11:36
and then to be -- and rock the boat.
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只想安于现状。
11:38
So I started开始 focusing调焦. What is it that they really do?
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所以,我进一步思考这个问题。他们真正的业务是什么?
11:42
So what happens发生 is that somebody borrows借阅 money from the bank银行.
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通常,某人向银行贷款,
11:45
She typically一般 buys购买 a cow. The cow gives milk牛奶.
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买一头母牛,牛会产奶,
11:49
And she sells塞尔斯 the milk牛奶 to the villagers村民, and pays支付 off the loan贷款.
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于是,那人将牛奶卖给村民,还清贷款。
11:53
And this is a business商业 for her, but it's milk牛奶 for everybody每个人 else其他.
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对这人来说这是一门生意,但为所有其他人提供了牛奶。
11:58
And suddenly突然 I realized实现 that a cell细胞 phone电话 could be a cow.
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于是,我忽然意识到,手机也可以起到一头母牛的作用。
12:00
Because some way she could borrow 200 dollars美元 from the bank银行,
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因为那人可以向银行贷款200美元,
12:04
get a phone电话 and have the phone电话 for everybody每个人.
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购买一部手机,然后将手机租给其他人使用。
12:07
And it's a business商业 for her.
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对这人来说,这是一门生意。
12:10
So I wrote to the bank银行, and they thought for a while, and they said,
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于是,我写信给银行,他们想了想,说:
12:14
"It's a little crazy, but logical合乎逻辑.
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“这主意有点疯狂,但不乏逻辑。
12:16
If you think it can be doneDONE, come and make it happen发生."
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如果你觉得可行,就过来实现它吧。”
12:20
So I quit放弃 my job工作; I went back to Bangladesh孟加拉国.
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于是,我辞去了工作,来到了孟加拉。
12:23
I created创建 a company公司 in America美国 called GonofoneGonofone,
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我在美国成立了一家公司,名为Gonofone,
12:26
which哪一个 in Bengali孟加拉 means手段 "people's人们 phone电话."
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在孟加拉语里意为“人民的手机”。
12:29
And angel天使 investors投资者 in America美国 put in money into that.
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这家公司得到了美国天使投资。
12:31
I flew around the world世界.
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之后我开始奔走于世界各地。
12:33
After about a million百万 -- I mean, I got rejected拒绝 from lots of places地方,
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大约100万英里的行程中,我被许多人拒绝过,
12:36
because I was not only trying to go to a poor较差的 country国家,
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由于我不仅是在贫穷国家做生意,
12:39
I was trying to go to the poor较差的 of the poor较差的 country国家.
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而且是做这些国家里穷人的生意。
12:41
After about a million百万 miles英里, and a meaningful富有意义的 --
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大约100万英里的行程中,我虽然掉了不少头发,
12:45
a substantial大量的 loss失利 of hair头发, I eventually终于 put together一起 a consortium财团, and --
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却很有意义,因为最终我成立了一个联盟来推广这项服务,
12:48
which哪一个 involved参与 the Norwegian挪威 telephone电话 company公司,
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这其中包括提供专有技术的
12:52
which哪一个 provided提供 the know-how知识,
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挪威电信公司,
12:55
and the Grameen格莱珉 Bank银行 provided提供 the infrastructure基础设施 to spread传播 the service服务.
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以及提供基础设施的孟加拉乡村银行。
13:01
To make the story故事 short, here is the coverage覆盖 of the country国家.
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长话短说,这是整个国家的覆盖面,
13:05
You can see it's pretty漂亮 much covered覆盖.
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可以看到覆盖率很高。
13:08
Even in Bangladesh孟加拉国, there are some empty places地方.
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即使在孟加拉,也有一些空无人烟的地方。
13:11
But we are also investing投资 around another另一个 300 million百万 dollars美元 this year
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但是,我们今年投资了大约3亿美元
13:15
to extend延伸 that coverage覆盖.
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来扩大覆盖面积。
13:20
Now, about that cow model模型 I talked about.
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现在,再回到我刚才说到的母牛模式。
13:23
There are about 115,000 people who are retailing零售业 telephone电话 services服务
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约有115,000人在其居住的社区
13:29
in their neighborhoods社区.
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提供公共电话服务。
13:31
And it's serving服务 52,000 villages村庄, which哪一个 represent代表 about 80 million百万 people.
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这些服务覆盖了52000个村庄,共8千万人。
13:37
And these phones手机 are generating发电
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这些电话为公司产出了
13:41
about 100 million百万 dollars美元 for the company公司.
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1亿美元的经济效益。
13:44
And two dollars美元 profit利润 per entrepreneur企业家 per day, which哪一个 is like 700 dollars美元 per year.
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对于每个零售服务提供者,每天获得2美元的利润,每年大约700美元。
13:53
And of course课程, it's very beneficial有利 in a lot of ways方法.
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当然,这一模式还有很多好处。
13:55
It increases增加 income收入, improves提高 welfare福利, etc等等.
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它能增加收入,提高福利等等。
13:58
And the result结果 is, right now, this company公司 is the largest最大 telephone电话 company公司,
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结果是,现在,这一公司已成为最大的电话公司,
14:02
with 3.5 million百万 subscribers用户,
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拥有350万用户,
14:05
115,000 of these phones手机 I talked about --
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115,000部电话产生的流量
14:07
that produces产生 about a third第三 of the traffic交通 in the network网络.
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占到整个网络的三分之一。
14:12
And 2004, the net profit利润, after taxes --
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2004年,税后净利润为
14:16
very serious严重 taxes -- was 120 million百万 dollars美元.
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1亿2千万美元,尽管税收数字本身也十分可观。
14:20
And the company公司 contributed贡献 about 190 million百万 dollars美元 to the government政府 coffers库房.
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公司为政府财政收入贡献了大约1亿9千万美元。
14:26
And again, here are some of the lessons教训.
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这里是我们获得的一些经验。
14:28
"The government政府 needs需求 to provide提供 economically经济 viable可行 services服务."
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“政府需要提供经济上可行的服务。”
14:30
Actually其实, this is an instance where private私人的 companies公司 can provide提供 that.
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事实上,私营公司可以做到这一点。
14:33
"Governments政府 need to subsidize资助 private私人的 companies公司."
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“政府需要资助私营公司”。
14:36
This is what some people think.
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有些人会这样想。
14:38
And actually其实, private私人的 companies公司 help governments政府 with taxes.
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而事实上,私营公司为政府提供税收收入。
14:41
"Poor较差的 people are recipients收件人."
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“穷人总是接受者”。
14:43
Poor较差的 people are a resource资源.
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事实上,穷人是资源。
14:46
"Services服务 cost成本 too much for the poor较差的."
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为穷人服务成本太高”。
14:48
Their involvement参与 reduces减少 the cost成本.
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事实上,他们可以降低成本。
14:52
"The poor较差的 are uneducated没有受过教育 and cannot不能 do much."
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“穷人教育程度低,无法成大事”。
14:55
They are very eager急于 learners学习者 and very capable survivors幸存者.
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事实上,他们求知欲望强,生存本领高。
14:58
I've been very surprised诧异.
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对此,我感到十分惊讶。
15:00
Most of them learn学习 how to operate操作 a telephone电话 within a day.
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他们中的大多数人在一天内学会如何使用电话。
15:03
"Poor较差的 countries国家 need aid援助."
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“穷国需要援助。”
15:06
Businesses企业 -- this one company公司 has raised上调 the --
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事实上,如果数据的准确率只有5%,
15:09
if the ideal理想 figures人物 are even five percent百分 true真正, this one company公司
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仅这一家公司为该国贡献的国民生产总值
15:14
is raising提高 the GNP国民生产总值 of the country国家 much more than the aid援助 the country国家 receives收到.
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也已远远超过其所接受的援助。
15:19
And as I was trying to show显示 you, as far as I'm concerned关心,
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就我而言,我想让大家知道,
15:22
aid援助 does damages赔偿 because it removes移除了 the government政府 from its citizens公民.
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援助有害,因为它让政府远离其公民。
15:27
And this is a new project项目 I have with Dean院长 Kamen假面, the famous著名 inventor发明者 in America美国.
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这是我与美国著名发明家迪恩•卡门(Dean Kamen)合作的新项目。
15:31
He has produced生成 some power功率 generators发电机,
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他制造了一些发电机,
15:34
which哪一个 we are now doing an experiment实验 in Bangladesh孟加拉国,
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我们正在孟加拉的两个村庄对其进行一项试验,
15:38
in two villages村庄 where cow manure肥料 is producing生产 biogas沼气,
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利用牛粪产生的沼气
15:41
which哪一个 is running赛跑 these generators发电机.
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为发电机提供动力。
15:45
And each of these generators发电机 is selling销售 electricity电力 to 20 houses房屋 each.
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每个发电机向20户人家输送电力。
15:48
It's just an experiment实验.
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这还只是一项试验。
15:52
We don't know how far it will go,
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我们不知道它能走多远,
15:53
but it's going on.
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但目前还在进行中。
15:55
Thank you.
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谢谢。
Translated by Elaine Zhao
Reviewed by Tangos Chan

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Iqbal Quadir - Founder, GrameenPhone
Iqbal Quadir is an advocate of business as a humanitarian tool. With GrameenPhone, he brought the first commercial telecom services to poor areas of Bangladesh. His latest project will help rural entrepreneurs build power plants.

Why you should listen

As a kid in rural Bangladesh in 1971, Iqbal Quadir had to walk half a day to another village to find the doctor -- who was not there. Twenty years later he felt the same frustration while working at a New York bank, using diskettes to share information during a computer network breakdown. His epiphany: In both cases, "connectivity is productivity." Had he been able to call the doctor, it would have saved him hours of walking for nothing.

Partnering with microcredit pioneer GrameenBank, in 1997 Quadir established GrameenPhone, a wireless operator now offering phone services to 80 million rural Bangladeshi. It's become the model for a bottom-up, tech-empowered approach to development. "Phones have a triple impact," Quadir says. "They provide business opportunities; connect the village to the world; and generate over time a culture of entrepreneurship, which is crucial for any economic development."

More profile about the speaker
Iqbal Quadir | Speaker | TED.com