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 Vašingtonu ali sam odrastao u Sindekelu, selu u Orisi, u Indiji. Moj otac je bio državni službenik. Moja majka je bila nepismena, ali bi mi govorila: "Kralja poštuju samo u njegovom kraljevstvu. Pesnika poštuju svuda." I tako sam ja želeo da kada porastem postanem pesnik, ali umalo da nisam išao na koledž dok tetka nije ponudila finansijsku 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.
Studirao sam u Sambalpuru, najvećem gradu u regionu, gde sam, već kao student, prvi put gledao televiziju. Sanjao sam da studije nastavim u Sjedinjenim Državama. Kada mi se ukazala prilika, prešao sam dva okeana, novcem pozajmljenim za avionsku kartu i samo 20 dolara u džepu. U Sjedinjenim Državama sam radio u istraživačkom centru, pola radnog vremena, dok sam pohađao postdiplomske studije iz ekonomije. I sa ono malo što sam zarađivao, ja bih podmirivao sopstvene troškove a potom slao novac kući 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. Milioni ljudi migriraju svake godine. Uz pomoć svojih porodica, prelaze okeane, prelaze pustinje, reke, planine. Rizikuju živote kako bi ostvarili san, a taj san je samo da negde imaju pristojan posao, tako da bi mogli da šalju novac kući i pomognu porodici, koja je prethodno pomogla njima.
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.
Ima 232 miliona međunarodnih migranata u svetu. To su ljudi koji ne žive u zemlji u kojoj su se rodili. Kada bi postojala zemlja sačinjena samo od međunarodnih migranata, ona bi imala stanovništvo brojnije od Brazila. Ona bi imala ekonomiju po veličini veću od ekonomije Francuske. Od njih oko 180 miliona, koji potiču iz siromašnih zemalja redovno šalju novac 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 količine novca se zovu doznake. Evo jedne činjenice koja vas može iznenaditi: 413 milijadi dolara, 413 milijardi dolara je količina doznaka koje su prošle godine poslali migranti u zemlje u razvoju. Migranti iz zemalja u razvoju, novac poslat u zemlje u razvoju: 413 milijardi dolara. Ovo je izuzetan broj jer je tri puta veći od ukupne sume finansijske pomoći za razvoj. Ali ipak, vi i ja, moje kolege u Vašingtonu, neprestano raspravljamo i diskutujemo o pomoći za razvoj i ignorišemo doznake kao sitan novac.
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 mesečno šalju 200 dolara u proseku. Ali, kada to ponavljaju svakog meseca, milioni ljudi, te sume novca formiraju reke stranih valuta. Tako je Indija prošle godine primila 72 milijarde dolara, što je više od njenog izvoza informacionih tehnologija. U Egiptu su doznake tri puta veće od prihoda ostvarenog od Sueckog kanala. U Tadžikistanu, doznake čine 42 procenata bruto domaćeg proizvoda. A u siromašnijim, manjim zemljama, krhkijim zemljama, zemljama zahvaćenim sukobima, doznake su pojas za spasavanje, 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 što ovi tokovi imaju snažan uticaj na ekonomije i siromašne ljude. Doznake se, za razliku od privatnih investicija, ne povlače na prvi znak problema u zemlji. One se zapravo ponašaju kao osiguranje. Kada je porodica u problemu, kada se suočava sa teškoćama, doznake se povećavaju, one se ponašaju kao osiguranje. Tada migranti šalju više novca. Za razliku od pomoći razvoju, koji mora da prođe kroz zvanične organe, kroz vlade, doznake direktno dolaze do siromašnih, do porodica, često uz poslovni savet.
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.
Tako je u Nepalu udeo siromašnog stanovništva 1995. godine činio 42 procenata ukupnog stanovništva. Do 2005. godine, deceniju kasnije, u vreme političke i ekonomske krize, učešće siromašnih je opalo na 31 procenat. Ovaj pad siromaštva, u većem delu, oko polovine, je kako se veruje, posledica doznaka iz Indije, druge siromašne zemlje. U El Salvadoru, stopa napuštanja školovanja je manja među decom čije porodice primaju doznake. U Meksiku i Šri Lanki, porođajna težina je veća kod dece onih porodica koje dobijaju doznake.
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.
Doznake su brižljivo upakovani dolari. Migranti kući šalju novac za hranu, kupovinu potrepština, zidanje kuća, finansiranje školovanja, zdravstvene nege starijih, za poslovne investicije, prijateljima i porodici. Migranti šalju kući još više novca za specijalne prilike poput operacije ili venčanja. A migranti još šalju novac, možda prečesto, za neočekivane sahrane kojima ne mogu da prisustvuju.
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.
I pored toga što ovi tokovi čine toliko dobra, postoje prepreke ovim tokovima doznaka, ovim doznakama vrednim 400 milijardi dolara . Najznačajnija među njima je previsoka cena slanja novca kući. Kompanije za transfer novca formiraju svoje provizije kako bi muzli siromašne. Oni kažu: "Ako hoćete da pošaljete do 500 USD naplatićemo vam fiksnih 30 dolara." Ukoliko ste siromašni i možete da pošaljete samo 200 dolara, morate da platite proviziju od 30 dolara. Prosečna globalna cena slanja novca je osam procenata. To znači da će, ako šaljete 100 dolara, porodica sa druge strane primiti samo 92 dolara. Slanje novca u Afriku košta još više: 12 procenata. Za slanje novca u okviru Afrike, cena je još viša: preko 20 procenata. Na primer, ukoliko šaljete novac iz Benina u Nigeriju. A tu je i slučaj Venecuele, gde zbog kontrole deviznog kursa imate sreće ukoliko kada pošaljete 100 dolara vaša porodice sa druge strane primi čak i 10 dolara. Naravno, u Venecuelu niko ne šalje novac zvaničnim kanalima. Stavlja se u kofere. Kad god su troškovi visoki, novac putuje tajnim kanalima.
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 najgore, mnoge zemlje u razvoju u potpunosti brane slanje novca van zemlje. Mnoge bogate nacije imaju potpunu zabranu slanja novca u pojedine zemlje. Pa, da li nema drugih mogućnosti, boljih, jeftinijih opcija 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.
Ima ih. M-Pesa u Keniji omogućava ljudima da šalju i primaju novac po fiksnoj ceni od samo 60 centi po transakciji. Centralna banka SAD-a je započela program sa Meksikom kojim se firmama za transfer novca omogućuje da šalju novac u Meksiko za fiksnu cenu od samo 67 centi po transakciji. Ali ipak, ove brže, jeftinije, bolje opcije ne mogu da budu primenjene internacionalno zbog straha od pranja novca, iako ima malo podataka koji bi podržavali njihovu povezanost, bilo kakvu značajnu vezu između pranja novca i ovih malih transakcija doznakama. Danas mnoge međunarodne banke nerado drže bankarske račune firmama koje se bave novčanim uslugama, naročito onima koje posluju sa Somalijom.
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 u kojoj je prihod po glavi stanovnika samo 250 USD godišnje. Prosečne mesečne doznake Somaliji veće su od te sume. Doznake su žila kucavica Somalije. Ali opet, ovo je primer kako desna ruka pruža mnogo pomoći, dok leva seče žilu kucavicu ovoj ekonomiji, kroz propise. Tu je i slučaj siromašnih ljudi iz sela, poput mene. U selima je jedino mesto na kome možete podići novac pošta. Većina vlada u svetu je dozvolila poštama posedovanje isključivog partnerstva sa kompanijama za transfer novca. Tako da, ukoliko želim da pošaljem novac ocu u selo, moram da ga pošaljem preko te određene kompanije za transfer novca, čak iako imaju visoku cenu. Ne mogu ići na jeftiniju opciju. To mora da se promeni.
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, šta internacionalne organizacije i socijalni preduzetnici mogu da smanje cenu slanja novca kući? Prvo, ublažiti propise za male doznake ispod 1000 USD. Vlade treba da prepoznaju da male doznake nisu pranje novca. Drugo, vlade treba da ukinu isključivo partnerstvo izmeđe pošta i kompanija za transfer novca. Štaviše, i između pošte i bilo kog nacionalnog bankarskog sistema koji ima široku mrežu koja opslužuje siromašne. Zapravo, one treba da podstiču konkurenciju, da otvore partnerstvo tako da spustimo cene, kao što smo, kao što su oni učinili u telekomunikacionoj industriji. Videli ste šta se tamo dogodilo. Treće, velike neprofitne dobrotvorne organizacije treba da sačine platformu za doznake na neprofitnim osnovama. Oni bi trebalo da kreiraju neprofitnu platformu za doznake koja bi služila kompanijama za transfer novca, tako da mogu da šalju novac za nisku cenu, poslujući u skladu sa svim složenim propisima širom sveta.
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.
Zemlje u razvoju treba da sebi za cilj postave smanjenje troškova doznaka na jedan procenat sa sadašnjih osam procenata. Ukoliko smanjimo troškove na jedan procenat, to bi donelo uštedu od 30 milijardi dolara godišnje. Trideset milijardi dolara, to je više od celokupnog bilateralnog budžeta za pomoć koja ide Africi godišnje. To je više, ili gotovo jednako ukupnom budžetu za pomoć vlade SAD-a, najvećeg donatora na planeti. Zapravo, uštede bi bile veće od 30 milijardi jer se kanali kojima se kreću doznake koriste i za pomoć, trgovinu 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.
Druga velika prepreka kretanju doznaka ka familijama je znatan i neumeren i ilegalan trošak regrutovanja, provizije koju migranti radnici plaćaju radnicima koji su im pronašli 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.
Pre nekoliko godina sam bio u Dubaiju. Posetio sam radnički kamp. Bilo je osam sati uveče, mračno, vruće, puno vlage. Radnici su se vraćali nakon iscrpljujućeg radnog dana, i zapodenuo sam razgovor sa građevinskim radnikom iz Bangladeša. Bio je zabrinut što je kući slao novac, do tada već tokom nekoliko meseci, a novac je u najvećem delu išao agentu za zapošljavanje koji mu je pronašao taj posao. I mogao sam sebi da predstavim njegovu ženu koja čeka mesečnu doznaku. Doznaka stiže. Ona je prima i predaje agentu za zapošljavanje, dok deca to posmatraju. Ovo mora da se prekine.
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.
Ovo se ne odnosi samo na građevinske radnike iz Bangledaša, odnosi se na sve radnike. Postoje milioni migranata radnika koji ispaštaju zbog ovog problema. Građevinski radnik iz Bangladeša, u proseku, plaća oko 4000 dolara proviziju za zapošljavanje za posao koji mu donosi godišnji prihod od samo 2000 dolara. To znači da će tokom dve ili tri godine života, on u osnovi slati novac kako bi platio naknadu za zapošljavanje. Njegova porodica ne dobija 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.
Ovo se ne događa samo u Dubaiju, to je mračna strana svakog velikog grada na svetu. Ne radi se samo o građevinskim radnicima iz Bangladeša, u pitanju su radnici iz celog sveta. Oni nisu samo muškarci. Žene su naročito podložne zloupotrebi tokom regrutovanja.
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 koje se zbivaju u sferi doznaka je kako pokrenuti, kroz inovaciju, štednju i davanje dijaspore. Migranti kući šalju novac, ali oni i štede velike količine novca tamo gde žive. Štednja migranata je procenjena na 500 milijardi dolara godišnje. Većina tog novca je smeštena u depozite banaka koje vam daju nula procenata kamatne stope. Ukoliko bi došle države i ponudile kamatnu stopu od tri ili četiri procenta, i rekle da će taj novac biti iskorišćen za izgradnju škola, puteva, aerodroma, železnice u njihovoj zemlji porekla, mnogi migranti bi bili zainteresovani da daju novac, jer nije samo finansijska dobit ta koja im daje mogućnost da budu uključeni u razvoj svoje zemlje. Kanali doznaka mogu da budu iskorišćeni i za prodaju ovih menica migrantima jer kada oni svakoga meseca dođu da pošalju doznaku, tada im je zaista možete prodati. Isto možete da uradite da pokrenete davanja dijaspore. Ja bih voleo da investiram u sistem brzih vozova u Indiji i voleo bih da doprinesem naporima u borbi sa malarijom u mom selu. Doznake su odličan način na koji se dobrobit deli između mesta, na ciljani način od kojeg imaju koristi oni kojima je najpotrebnija.
Remittances empower people. We must do all we can to make remittances and recruitment safer and cheaper. And it can be done.
Doznake opunomoćuju ljude. Moramo da učinimo sve u svojoj moći da doznake i regrutovanje učinimo sigurnijim i jeftinijim. A to se može učiniti.
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)
Što se mene tiče, ja sam van Indije već dve decenije. Moja supruga je Venecuelanka. Moja deca su Amerikanci. Sve više se osećam kao građanin sveta. Ipak, sve sam više nostalgičan prema zemlji iz koje potičem. Želeo bih da budem u Indiji i SAD-u u isto vreme. Moji roditelji više nisu tamo. Moja braća i sestre su napredovali. Nema prave potrebe da kući šaljem novac. Ali ipak, s vremena na vreme, šaljem novac kući prijateljima, rođacima, selu, kako bih bio tamo, kako bih ostao angažovan, to je deo mog identiteta. I još uvek težim da budem pesnik marljivim migrantima i njihovoj borbi da se oslobode kruga siromaštva. Hvala vam. (Aplauz)