02 August 2001

WORLD BANK, AUSTRALIA LAUNCH INTERNET AID PLAN
Issue: Digital Divide

The World Bank and Australia are extending the 50-year old "Colombo Plan"
another 5 years by funding a $750 million project to provide online distance
education and training in 12 nations in Asia, the Pacific and Africa.

Australia will commit $100 million to help fund the already established Internet education links between its institutions and South Pacific nations, will offer 200 Internet training scholarships to teachers, and will build 8 training centers for teachers in Papua New Guinea.

"I do not expect a computer in every poor household that does not have enough food to eat," said World Bank President James Wolfensohn at the programme's launch in Sydney. "It is not a panacea to everything. It will be another component in the fight against poverty.... The remotest village has the possibility of tapping a global store of knowledge beyond the dreams of anyone living a century ago.

This plan compresses distance, shares information, empowers the individual. It will make the difference in our capacity to affect the development process in the world," he said.

[SOURCE: ITWeb, AUTHOR: Reuters]
(http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/internet/2001/0108021011.asp)

Contact with WorldBank

The Business Partnership and Outreach Group (BPOG) is responsible for promoting, supporting and guiding private sector partnerships within the World Bank Group. BPOG has produced a series of briefing notes and guidance documents on private sector partnerships. BPOG maintains an inventory of private sector partnerships throughout the Bank Group. In addition, BPOG is a point of contact for the business community on the products and services of the World Bank Group for the private sector, and arranges procurement briefings for the business community. (contact BPOG: [email protected] / Tel. 202-522-4272; Fax. 202-522-1727).
Business Partnership and Outreach Group Partnerships

Business Partners for Development (BPD) is a project-based initiative that studies, supports and promotes strategic examples of partnerships involving business, civil society and government working together for the development of communities around the world.

We believe tri-sector partnerships benefit the long-term interests of the business sector while meeting the social objectives of civil society and the state by helping to create stable social and financial environments.

The BPD Network has been working intensively with 16-25 focus projects grouped into five clusters: youth development, education and training, water and sanitation, natural resources  consortium, and road traffic safety. A Knowledge Resource Group has been established to collect, analyze, link, and disseminate the lessons learned about partnerships involving business, government and civil society.

SMExchange will support SME development in emerging economies by spearheading collaboration among business associations and other experts to build self-sustaining capacity of associations in lesser developed countries to support local small and medium enterprises to compete in a global environment. It will also support cross-border linkages among SMEs and a sharing of experiences at the company level.

These goals will be achieved through several means, including training, internships, seminars, twinning, and an on-line exchange. SMExchange will be organized into Clubs devoted to Training, Industry, and Finance. These Clubs will bring together SMEs in both Part I and Part II countries, along with chambers and other experts, to determine program activities. This will ensure demand-driven programs, with benefit for all involved. SMEs are often established in poorer areas and employ poor people.

By generating economic growth and employment opportunities through SME development, SMExchange will help reduce poverty on a sustainable basis.

Global Information Technology / Telecommunications Partnership for Technician Training. As an immediate follow-up to the momentum generated at the G8 Summit in Okinawa, the Business Partnership & Outreach Group is exploring possibilities for the World Bank Group to convene an industry-based consortium of IT and telecom companies to consider collaborative solutions to address the global shortage of trained technicians