I live in Washington, D.C., but I grew up in Sindhekela, a village in Orissa, in India. My father was a government worker. My mother could not read or write, but she would say to me, "A king is worshipped only in his own kingdom. A poet is respected everywhere." So I wanted to be a poet when I grew up. But I almost didn't go to college until an aunt offered financial help.
Živim u Washingtonu, ali odrastao sam u Sindhekeli, selu u Orissi, u Indiji. Moj otac bio je državni zaposlenik. Moja majka nije znala čitati ni pisati, ali ona bi mi govorila: "Kralja štuju samo u njegovom kraljevstvu. Pjesnika poštuju svugdje." Tako da sam htio biti pjesnik kad odrastem. Ali skoro nisam išao na fakultet dok mi teta nije ponudila financijsku pomoć.
I went to study in Sambalpur, the largest town in the region, where, already in college, I saw a television for the first time. I had dreams of going to the United States for higher studies. When the opportunity came, I crossed two oceans, with borrowed money for airfare and only a $20 bill in my pocket. In the U.S., I worked in a research center, part-time, while taking graduate classes in economics. And with the little I earned, I would finance myself and then I would send money home to my brother and my father.
Otišao sam studirati u Sambalpur, najveći grad u regiji, gdje, već na fakultetu, vidio sam televiziju po prvi put. Imao sam snove o odlasku u Sjedinjene Države za više studije. Kada se pružila prilika, prešao sam dva oceana, s posuđenim novcem za let i samo 20 dolara u džepu. U Americi, radio sam u istraživačkom centru, nepuno radno vrijeme, dok sam magistrirao ekonomiju. I sa to malo što sam zaradio, financiorao sam sebe i onda bih slao novac kući mom bratu i ocu.
My story is not unique. There are millions of people who migrate each year. With the help of the family, they cross oceans, they cross deserts, they cross rivers, they cross mountains. They risk their lives to realize a dream, and that dream is as simple as having a decent job somewhere so they can send money home and help the family, which has helped them before.
Moja priča nije jedinstvena. Postoje milijuni ljudi koji se sele svake godine. Uz pomoć obitelji, prelaze oceane, prelaze pustinje, prelaze rijeke, prelaze planine. Riskiraju živote kako bi ostvarili san, i taj san je jednostavan kao imati pristojan posao negdje tako da mogu slati novac doma, i pomoći obitelji, koja im je pomogla prije.
There are 232 million international migrants in the world. These are people who live in a country other than their country of birth. If there was a country made up of only international migrants, that would be larger, in population, than Brazil. That would be larger, in its size of the economy, than France. Some 180 million of them, from poor countries, send money home regularly.
Postoji 232 milijuna međunarodnih migranata u svijetu. Ovo su ljudi koji žive u zemlji koja nije njihova zemlja porijekla. Da postoji zemlja napravljena od međunarodnih migranata, bila bi veća, u populaciji, od Brazila. To bi bilo veće, po veličini ekonomije, od Francuske. Nekih 180 milijuna njih, iz siromašnih zemalja, šalje novac redovno kući.
Those sums of money are called remittances. Here is a fact that might surprise you: 413 billion dollars, 413 billion dollars was the amount of remittances sent last year by migrants to developing countries. Migrants from developing countries, money sent to developing countries — 413 billion dollars. That's a remarkable number because that is three times the size of the total of development aid money. And yet, you and I, my colleagues in Washington, we endlessly debate and discuss about development aid, while we ignore remittances as small change.
Te svote novca zovu se novčane pošiljke. Evo činjenica koja će vas iznenaditi: 413 milijardi dolara, 413 milijardi dolara je iznos novčanih pošiljki poslanih prošle godine od strane migranata u zemlje u razvoju. Migranti iz zemalja u razvoju, novac poslan u zemlje u razvoju — 413 milijardi dolara. To je značajan broj jer je tri puta veći od iznosa novca za pomoć u razvoju. A ipak, vi i ja, moji kolege u Washingtonu, beskrajno raspravljamo i pričamo o novcu za pomoć u razvoju., dok ignoriramo novčane pošiljke kao sitniš.
True, people send 200 dollars per month, on average. But, repeated month after month, by millions of people, these sums of money add up to rivers of foreign currency. So India, last year, received 72 billion dollars, larger than its IT exports. In Egypt remittances are three times the size of revenues from the Suez Canal. In Tajikistan, remittances are 42 percent of GDP. And in poorer countries, smaller countries, fragile countries, conflict-afflicted countries, remittances are a lifeline, as in Somalia or in Haiti.
Istina, ljudi šalju 200 dolara mjesečno, u prosjeku. Ali, kada se to ponavlja iz mjeseca u mjesec, od strane milijuna ljudi, iznosi novca zbrojeno daju rijeke strane valute. Tako da je Indija prošle godine primila 72 milijarde dolara, više nego njen izvoz IT-a. U Egiptu su novčane pošiljke tri put veće od prihoda Sueskog kanala. U Tađikistanu, novčane pošiljke su 42 posto BDP-a. U siromašnijim zemljama, manjim zemljama, krhkim zemljama, zemljama koje razdiru sukobi, novčane pošiljke su spas, kao u Somaliji ili na Haitiju.
No wonder these flows have huge impacts on economies and on poor people. Remittances, unlike private investment money, they don't flow back at the first sign of trouble in the country. They actually act like an insurance. When the family is in trouble, facing hardship, facing hard times, remittances increase, they act like an insurance. Migrants send more money then. Unlike development aid money, that must go through official agencies, through governments, remittances directly reach the poor, reach the family, and often with business advice.
Nije čudo da ovaj tijek ima ogromne utjecaje na ekonomiju i siromašne. Novčane pošiljke, za razliku od privatnog investicijskog novca, ne teku natrag na prvi znak problema u državi. Ponašaju se kao osiguranje. Kad je obitelj u nevolji, suočena s problemima, teškim vremenima, novčane pošiljke povećaju se, kao osiguranje. Migranti tada šalju više novca. Za razliku od novčane pomoći, koja mora proći kroz ovlaštene agencije, kroz vlade, novčane pošiljke dolaze direktno do siromašnih, dolazi do obitelji, i često sa poslovnim savjetom.
So in Nepal, the share of poor people was 42 percent in 1995, the share of poor people in the population. By 2005, a decade later, at a time of political crisis, economic crisis, the share of poor people went down to 31 percent. That decline in poverty, most of it, about half of it, is believed to be because of remittances from India, another poor country. In El Salvador, the school dropout rate among children is lower in families that receive remittances. In Mexico and Sri Lanka, the birth weight of children is higher among families that receive remittances.
U Nepalu je udio siromašnih ljudi bio 42 posto 1995. godine, udio siromašnih ljudi u populaciji. 2005. godine, desetljeće kasnije, u doba političke, ekonomske krize, udio siromašnih ljudi pao je na 31 posto. Taj pad siromaštva, većina, polovica njega, vjeruje se da je uzrokovan novčanim pošiljkama iz Indije, još jedne siromašne zemlje. U El Salvadoru, stopa ispisivanja djece iz škole niža je u obiteljima koje primaju novčane pošiljke. U Meksiku i Šri Lanki, težina djece pri porodu je viša u obiteljima koje primaju novčane pošiljke.
Remittances are dollars wrapped with care. Migrants send money home for food, for buying necessities, for building houses, for funding education, for funding healthcare for the elderly, for business investments for friends and family. Migrants send even more money home for special occasions like a surgery or a wedding. And migrants also send money, perhaps far too many times, for unexpected funerals that they cannot attend.
Novčane pošiljke su dolari umotani s brigom. Migranti šalju novac kućama za hranu, za kupovanje potrepština, gradnju kuća, za financiranje obrazovanja, financiranje zdravstvenog osiguranja za stare, za poslovne investicije za prijatelje i obitelj. Migranti šalju još više novca kući u posebnim prilikama kao što su operacije ili vjenčanje. I migranti također šalju novac, možda previše puta, za nepredviđene sprovode na kojima ne mogu biti.
Much as these flows do all that good, there are barriers to these flows of remittances, these 400 billion dollars of remittances. Foremost among them is the exorbitant cost of sending money home. Money transfer companies structure their fees to milk the poor. They will say, "Up to 500 dollars if you want to send, we will charge you 30 dollars fixed." If you are poor and if you have only 200 dollars to send, you have to pay that $30 fee. The global average cost of sending money is eight percent. That means you send 100 dollars, the family on the other side receives only 92 dollars. To send money to Africa, the cost is even higher: 12 percent. To send money within Africa, the cost is even higher: over 20 percent. For example, sending money from Benin to Nigeria. And then there is the case of Venezuela, where, because of exchange controls, you send 100 dollars and you are lucky if the family on the other side receives even 10 dollars. Of course, nobody sends money to Venezuela through the official channel. It all goes in suitcases. Whereever costs are high, money goes underground.
Koliko god ovi tokovi čine dobra, postoje prepreke ovim tijekovima novčanih pošiljki, ovih 400 milijardi dolara novčanih pošiljki. Najprije među njima je pretjerani trošak slanja novca kući. Tvrtke za prebacivanje novca strukturiraju svoje naknade da bi muzle siromašne. Kažu: "Do 500 dolara ako želite slati, naplatiti ćemo vam 30 dolara fiksno." Ako ste siromašni i imate samo 200 dolara za poslati, morate platiti tih 30 dolara. Globalni prosjek troška slanja novca je osam posto. To znači da kada šaljete 100 dolara, obitelj s druge strane dobiva samo 92 dolara. Kod slanja novca u Afriku, trošak je još veći: 12 posto. Slanje novca unutar Afrike, trošak je još viši: preko 20 posto. Na primjer, slanje novca od Benina do Nigerije. I onda je tu slučaj Venecuele, gdje, zbog kontrole razmjene, šaljete 100 dolara i vi ste sretni ako obitelj s druge strane primi makar 10 dolara. Naravno, nitko ne šalje novac u Venecuelu kroz službene kanale. Sve ide u kovčezima. Gdje god su troškovi visoki, novac ide podzemnim putevima.
And what is worse, many developing countries actually have a blanket ban on sending money out of the country. Many rich nations also have a blanket ban on sending money to specific countries. So, is it that there are no options, no better options, cheaper options, to send money?
I što je gore, mnoge zemlje u razvoju zapravo imaju zabranu slanja novca van zemlje. Mnoge bogate zemlje također imaju zabranu slanja novca u određene zemlje. Je li to zbog toga što ne postoje opcije, bolje opcije, povoljnije opcije, za slanje novca?
There are. M-Pesa in Kenya enables people to send money and receive money at a fixed cost of only 60 cents per transaction. U.S. Fed started a program with Mexico to enable money service businesses to send money to Mexico for a fixed cost of only 67 cents per transaction. And yet, these faster, cheaper, better options can't be applied internationally because of the fear of money laundering, even though there is little data to support any connection, any significant connection between money laundering and these small remittance transactions. Many international banks now are wary of hosting bank accounts of money service businesses, especially those serving Somalia.
Postoje. M-Pesa u Keniji omogućuje slanje novca i primanje novca uz fiksni trošak od samo 60 centi po transakciji. U.S. Fed započeli su program s Meksikom kako bi omogućili servisima za slanje novca slanje novca u Meksiko za fiksni trošak od 67 centi po transakciji. Ali ipak, ove brže, povoljnije, bolje opcije ne mogu se primjeniti međunarodno zbog straha od pranja novca, iako ima jako malo podataka koji potvrđuju tu vezu, bilo kakvu značajnu vezu između pranja novca i tih malih transakcija novčanih pošiljki. Mnoge međunarodne banke sada su pažljive kod pružanja usluga servisima za slanje novca, posebno onima koji posluju u Somaliji.
Somalia, a country where the per capita income is only 250 dollars per year. Monthly remittances, on average, to Somalia is larger than that amount. Remittances are the lifeblood of Somalia. And yet, this is an example of the right hand giving a lot of aid, while the left hand is cutting the lifeblood to that economy, through regulations. Then there is the case of poor people from villages, like me. In the villages, the only place where you can get money is through the post office. Most of the governments in the world have allowed their post offices to have exclusive partnerships with money transfer companies. So, if I have to send money to my father in the village, I must send money through that particular money transfer company, even if the cost is high. I cannot go to a cheaper option. This has to go.
Somalija, zemlja gdje je prihod po glavi stanovnika samo 250 dolara godišnje. Mjesečne novčane pošiljke, u prosjeku, za Somaliju veće su nego taj iznos. Novčane pošiljke izvor su života Somalije. Ali ipak, ovo je primjer kako desna ruka daje puno pomoći, dok lijeva siječe izvor života te ekonomije, kroz pravilnike. Onda je tu slučaj siromašnih ljudi sa sela, poput mene. U selima, jedino mjesto gdje možete dobiti novac je pošta. Većina vlada u svijetu dozvolila je poštanskim uredima da imaju ekskluzivna partnerstva sa tvrtkama za prijenos novca. Ako želim poslati novac svom ocu u selo, moram poslati novac kroz određenu tvrtku za prijenos novca, čak i ako je trošak velik. Ne mogu koristiti povoljniju opciju. Ovo mora nestati.
So, what can international organizations and social entrepreneurs do to reduce the cost of sending money home? First, relax regulations on small remittances under 1,000 dollars. Governments should recognize that small remittances are not money laundering. Second, governments should abolish exclusive partnerships between their post office and the money transfer company. For that matter, between the post office and any national banking system that has a large network that serves the poor. In fact, they should promote competition, open up the partnership so that we will bring down costs like we did, like they did, in the telecommunications industry. You have seen what has happened there. Third, large nonprofit philanthropic organizations should create a remittance platform on a nonprofit basis. They should create a nonprofit remittance platform to serve the money transfer companies so that they can send money at a low cost, while complying with all the complex regulations all over the world.
Dakle, što mogu međunarodne organizacije i društveni poduzetnici učiniti da smanje trošak slanja novca kući? Prvo, smanjite regulativu na male novčane pošiljke ispod 1000 dolara. Vlade bi trebale prepoznati da male pošiljke nisu pranje novca. Drugo, vlade bi trebale poništiti ekskluzivna partnerstva između pošte i tvrtki za transfer novca. Kad smo kod toga, između pošte i bilo kojeg nacionalnog bankovnog sustava koji ima veliku mrežu koja služi siromašnima. Zapravo, trebali bi promovirati konkurenciju, otvoriti se partnerstvu tako da smanjimo troškove kao što smo, kao što su oni učinili, u telekomunikacijama. Vidjeli ste što se tamo dogodilo. Treće, velike neprofitne filantropske organizacije trebale bi stvoriti platformu za slanje novčanih pošiljki na neprofitnoj osnovi. Trebali bi stvoriti neprofitnu platformu za slanje novca koja će služiti tvrtkama za prijenos novca tako da mogu povoljno slati novac, poštujući sve složene pravilnike širom svijeta.
The development community should set a goal of reducing remittance costs to one percent from the current eight percent. If we reduce costs to one percent, that would release a saving of 30 billion dollars per year. Thirty billion dollars, that's larger than the entire bilateral aid budget going to Africa per year. That is larger than, or almost similar to, the total aid budget of the United States government, the largest donor on the planet. Actually, the savings would be larger than that 30 billion because remittance channels are also used for aid, trade and investment purposes.
Zajednica za razvoj trebala bi postaviti cilj smanjenja troška novčanih pošiljki na jedan posto, sa trenutnih osam. Ako smanjimo troškove na jedan posto, to bi oslobodilo uštedu od 30 milijardi dolara godišnje. 30 milijardi dolara, to je veće nego čitavi bilateralni budžet pomoći Africi svake godine. To je veće, ili slično, čitavom budžetu za pomoć vlade Ujedinjenih država, najvećeg donatora na planetu. Zapravo, uštede bi bile veće nego tih 30 milijardi jer kanali novčanih pošiljki također se koriste za pomoć, razmjenu i investicije.
Another major impediment to the flow of remittances reaching the family is the large and exorbitant and illegal cost of recruitment, fees that migrants pay, migrant workers pay to laborers who found them the job.
Još jedna velika prepreka u tijeku novčanih pošiljki na putu do obitelji je veliki i pretjeran i ilegalni trošak regrutiranja, trošak koji plaćaju migranti, radnici iseljenici plaćaju radnicima koji su im našli posao.
I was in Dubai a few years ago. I visited a camp for workers. It was 8 in the evening, dark, hot, humid. Workers were coming back from their grueling day of work, and I struck a conversation with a Bangladeshi construction worker. He was preoccupied that he is sending money home, he has been sending money home for a few months now, and the money is mostly going to the recruitment agent, to the labor agent who found him that job. And in my mind, I could picture the wife waiting for the monthly remittance. The remittance arrives. She takes the money and hands it over to the recruitment agent, while the children are looking on. This has to stop.
Bio sam u Dubaiu prije nekoliko godina. Posjetio sam kamp za radnike. Bilo je 8 navečer, mrak, vruće, vlažno. Radnici su se vraćali sa svog mučnog dana rada, i započeo sam razgovor sa građevinskim radnikom iz Bangladeša. Bio je zaokupljen time što šalje novac kući, on je slao novac kući već par mjeseci, i novac najviše ide agentu za zapošljavanje, agentu za rad koji mu je našao taj posao. I u svom umu, mogao sam zamisliti njegovu ženu kako čeka mjesečnu novčanu pošiljku. Novac stigne. Ona uzima novac i daje ga agentu za zapošljavanje, dok djeca gledaju. To mora stati.
It is not only construction workers from Bangladesh, it is all the workers. There are millions of migrant workers who suffer from this problem. A construction worker from Bangladesh, on an average, pays about 4,000 dollars in recruitment fees for a job that gives him only 2,000 dollars per year in income. That means that for the two years or three years of his life, he is basically sending money to pay for the recruitment fees. The family doesn't get to see any of it.
To nisu samo građevinski radnici iz Bangladeša, to su svi radnici. Postoje milijuni radnika iseljenika koji imaju isti problem. Građevinski radnik iz Bangladeša, u prosjeku plaća 4000 dolara za troškove zapošljavanja za posao koji mu daje prihod od 2000 dolara godišnje. To znači da dvije ili tri godine svog života, on šalje novac kako bi platio troškove zaposlenja. Obitelj ne vidi ništa od tog novca.
It is not only Dubai, it is the dark underbelly of every major city in the world. It is not only Bangladeshi construction workers, it is workers from all over the world. It is not only men. Women are especially vulnerable to recruitment malpractices.
To nije samo Dubai, to je mračno podzemlje svakog velikog grada u svijetu. To nisu samo građevinci iz Bangladeša, to su radnici iz cijelog svijeta. To nisu samo muškarci. Žene su posebno ranjive prema nepravilnostima kod zapošljavanja.
One of the most exciting and newest thing happening in the area of remittances is how to mobilize, through innovation, diaspora saving and diaspora giving. Migrants send money home, but they also save a large amount of money where they live. Annually, migrant savings are estimated to be 500 billion dollars. Most of that money is parked in bank deposits that give you zero percent interest rate. If a country were to come and offer a three percent or four percent interest rate, and then say that the money would be used for building schools, roads, airports, train systems in the country of origin, a lot of migrants would be interested in parting with their money because it's not only financial gains that give them an opportunity to stay engaged with their country's development. Remittance channels can be used to sell these bonds to migrants because when they come on a monthly basis to send remittances, that's when you can actually sell it to them. You can also do the same for mobilizing diaspora giving. I would love to invest in a bullet train system in India and I would love to contribute to efforts to fight malaria in my village. Remittances are a great way of sharing prosperity between places in a targeted way that benefits those who need them most.
Jedna od najuzbudljivijih i najnovijih stvari koja se događa na području novčanih pošiljki jest kako mobilizirati, kroz inovaciju, štednju i davanje dijaspore. Migranti šalju novac kući, ali također štede velike količine novca tamo gdje žive. Godišnje, štednja migranata procjenjuje se na 500 milijardi dolara. Većina tog novca stoji na računima koji vam daju 0 posto kamate. Kada bi se pojavila zemlja koja bi nudila 3 posto ili 4 posto kamate, i onda rekla da će se novac iskoristiti za gradnje škola, cesta, aerodroma, vlakova u zemlji porijekla, puno bi migranata bilo zainteresirano odvojiti se od svog novca jer ne bi samo financijski dobitak dao priliku da ostanu uključeni u razvoj svoje zemlje. Kanali novčanih pošiljki mogu se koristiti kako bi se prodavale ove obveznice migrantima jer kada dođu jednom mjesečno slati novac, tada ih zapravo možete prodati. Isto možete učiniti za mobiliziranje davanja dijaspore. Volio bih investirati u sustav brzih vlakova u Indiji i volio bih pridonijeti borbi protiv malarije u mom selu. Novčane pošiljke odličan su način dijeljenja prosperiteta između mjesta na ciljan način koji doprinosi onima koji ga najviše trebaju.
Remittances empower people. We must do all we can to make remittances and recruitment safer and cheaper. And it can be done.
Novčane pošiljke osnažuju ljude. Moramo učiniti sve što možemo da novčane pošiljke i zapošljavanje postanu sigurniji i povoljniji. I to može biti napravljeno.
As for myself, I have been away from India for two decades now. My wife is a Venezuelan. My children are Americans. Increasingly, I feel like a global citizen. And yet, I am growing nostalgic about my country of birth. I want to be in India and in the U.S. at the same time. My parents are not there anymore. My brothers and sisters have moved on. There is no real urgency for me to send money home. And yet, from time to time, I send money home to friends, to relatives, to the village, to be there, to stay engaged — that's part of my identity. And, I'm still striving to be a poet for the hardworking migrants and their struggle to break free of the cycle of poverty. Thank you. (Applause)
Ja sam bio izvan Indije dva desetljeća. Moja žena je s Venecuele. Moja djeca su Amerikanci. Sve više, osjećam se kao globalni građanin. A ipak, postajem nostalgičan za svojom rodnom zemljom. Želim biti u Indiji i Americi u isto vrijeme. Moji roditelji nisu tamo više. Moji braća i sestre otišli su. Ne postoji prava hitnost da šaljem novac kući. Ali ipak, s vremena na vrijeme, šaljem novac kući prijateljima, rođacima, selu, kako bih bio tamo, ostao uključen — to je dio mog identiteta. I još uvijek stremim biti pjesnik za iseljenike koji teško rade i njihovoj borbi da se oslobode kruga siromaštva. Hvala vam. (Pljesak)