You know, there's a small country nestled in the Himalayan Mountains, far from these beautiful mountains, where the people of the Kingdom of Bhutan have decided to do something different, which is to measure their gross national happiness rather than their gross national product. And why not? After all, happiness is not just a privilege for the lucky few, but a fundamental human right for all. And what is happiness? Happiness is the freedom of choice. The freedom to chose where to live, what to do, what to buy, what to sell, from whom, to whom, when and how. Where does choice come from? And who gets to express it, and how do we express it?
Dumneavoastra stiti ca exista o tara mica asezata chiar in Muntii Himalaya, departe de acesti munti frumosi, unde locuitorii Regatului Bhutan au decis sa intreprinda ceva diferit, adica sa măsoare Producţia Naţională de Fericire în locul Produsului Intern Brut. Şi de ce nu? Una peste alta, fericirea nu este doar privilegiu al câtorva norocoşi, ci, din contră, un drept fundamental al tuturor. Şi ce este fericirea? Fericirea este libertatea de alegere. Libertatea de a alege unde să trăieşti, ce să faci, ce să cumperi, ce să vinzi, de la cine, cui, unde şi cum. De unde vine alegerea? Şi cine ajunge să o exprime şi cum o exprimăm noi?
Well, one way to express choice is through the market. Well-functioning markets provide choices, and ultimately, the ability to express one's pursuit for happiness. The great Indian economist, Amartya Sen, was awarded the Nobel prize for demonstrating that famine is not so much about the availability of food supply, but rather the ability to acquire or entitle oneself to that food through the market. In 1984, in what can only be considered one of the greatest crimes of humanity, nearly one million people died of starvation in my country of birth, Ethiopia. Not because there was not enough food -- because there was actually a surplus of food in the fertile regions of the south parts of the country -- but because in the north, people could not access or entitle themselves to that food. That was a turning point for my life.
Ei bine, o cale prin care ne exprimăm alegerea este prin intermediul pieţii. Pieţele care funcţionează bine oferă opţiuni şi, în final, abilitatea de a exprima urmărirea de catre cineva a fericirii. Celebrului economist indian, Amartya Sen, i-a fost decernat premiul Nobel pentru ca a demonstrat ca foametea nu are de-a face atat de mult cu aprovizionarea cu alimente, ci mai degraba cu abilitatea de a dobandi sau indreptati pe cineva la acea hrana prin intermediul pietii. In 1984, in ceea ce ar putea fi considerata una dintre cele mai mari crime ale umanitatii, aproape un milion de oameni au murit de foame in tara mea natala, Etiopia. Nu pentru ca nu a fost suficienta hrana, pentru ca, de fapt, a fost un surplus de hrana in regiunile fertile din partile de sud ale tarii, ci pentru ca, in nord, oamenii nu au avut acces sau nu au putut dobandi acces la acea hrana. Acela a fost un moment crucial in viata mea.
Most Africans today, by far, are farmers. And most of Africa's farmers are, by and large, small farmers in terms of land that they operate, and very, very small farmers in terms of the capital they have at their disposal. African agriculture today is among, or is, the most under-capitalized in the world. Only seven percent of arable land in Africa is irrigated, compared to 40 percent in Asia. African farmers only use some 22 kilograms of fertilizer per hectare, compared to 144 in Asia. Road density is six times greater in Asia than it is in rural Africa. There are eight times more tractors in Latin America, and three times more tractors in Asia, than in Africa. The small farmer in Africa today lives a life without much choice, and therefore without much freedom. His livelihood is predetermined by the conditions of grinding poverty. He comes to the market when prices are lowest, with the meager fruits of his hard labor, just after the harvest, because he has no choice. She comes back to the market some months later, when prices are highest, in what we call the lean season -- when food is scarce -- because she has to feed her family and has no choice.
Astazi cea mai mare parte a Africanilor sunt, in cea mai mare parte, fermieri. Si majoritatea agricultorilor Africii sunt, de departe, agricultori mici in ceea ce priveste terenul pe care produc si agricultori foarte, foarte mici din punct de vedere al capitalului pe care il au la dispozitie. La momentul de fata, agricultura africana este printre, ori este cea mai sub-capitalizata din lume. Numai sapte la procente din terenul arabil din Arica este irigat, in comparatie cu 40 de procente in Asia. Agricultorii africani folosesc doar 22 de kilograme de fertilizator la hectar, in comparatie cu 144 in Asia. Densitatea drumurilor este de sase ori mai mare in Asia fata de Africa rurala. Sunt de opt ori mai multe tractoare in America Latina, si de trei ori mai multe in Asia, decat in Africa. Agricultorii mici din Africa zilelor noastre traiesc o viata fara prea multe optiuni si, prin urmare, fara prea multa libertate. Mijloacele lui de supravietuire sunt predeterminate de condiţiile de saracie asupritoare. El vine la piata cand preturile sunt cele mai mici cu fructele slabe ale muncii lui grele, imediat după recoltare, pentru ca el nu are alternativa. Ea se intoarce la piata cateva luni mai tarziu, cand preturile sunt cele mai mari, in ceea ce noi numim sezonul slab -- cand hrana este neîndestulătoare -- pentru ca ea trebuie sa-si hraneasca familia si nu are alta optiune.
The real question is, how can markets be developed in rural Africa to harness the power of innovation and entrepreneurship that we know exists? Another notable economist, Theodore Schultz, in 1974 won the Nobel prize for demonstrating that farmers are efficient, but poor. Meaning, in fact, that farmers are rational and profit-minded just like everybody else. Well, we don't need, now, any more Nobel prizes to know that farmers want a fair shake at the market and want to make money, just like everyone else. And one thing is clear, which is at least now we know that Africa is open for business. And that business is agriculture. Over two decades ago, the world insisted to Africa that markets must be liberalized, that economies must be structurally adjusted. This meant that governments were to remove themselves from the business of buying and selling -- which they did rather inefficiently -- and let the private market do its magic. Well, what happened over the last 25 years? Did Africa feed itself? Did our farmers turn into highly productive commercial actors?
Intrebarea reala este: cum pot fi dezvoltate pietele in Africa rurala pentru a valorifica puterea de inovare şi spirit antreprenorial care noi stim ca exista? Un alt economist notabil, Theodore Schultz, in 1974 a primit premiul Nobel pentru ca a demonstrat ca agricultorii sunt eficienti dar, saraci. Afirmand, de fapt, ca agricultorii sunt rationali si orientati pe profit precum toti ceilalti. Bine, nu avem nevoie, acum, de alte premii Nobel, să aflăm că agricultorii doresc un tratament echitabil in piata si ca vor sa faca profit, la fel ca oricine altcineva. Si un lucru este cert, pe care cel putin noi il stim acum ca Africa este deschisa pentru afaceri. Si aceasta afacere este agricultura. Cu peste doua decenii in urma, lumea insista ca pietele din Africa trebuie liberalizate -- ca aceste economii trebuie ajustate structural. Aceasta insemna ca guvernele trebuiau sa se retraga din afacerile de vanzare si cumparare pe care acestia o faceau oarecum ineficient -- si sa lase piata privata sa-si faca magia. Bine, ce s-a intamplat in ultimii 25 de ani? S-a hranit Africa singura? Au devenit fermierii actori comerciali cu o productivitate inalta?
I think we're all in this room, probably, because we know that, in fact, Africa is the only region in the world where hunger and malnutrition are projected to go up over the next 10 years, where the food import bill is now double what it was 20 years ago, where food production per capita has stagnated, and where fertilizer use has declined rather than increased. So why didn't agriculture markets perform to expectations? The market reforms prompted by the West -- and I've spent some 15 years traveling around the continent doing research on agricultural markets, and have interviewed traders in 10 to 15 countries in this continent, hundreds of traders -- trying to understand what went wrong with our market reform. And it seems to me that the reforms might have thrown the baby out with the bath water.
Eu cred ca noi toti suntem in aceasta camera probabil, pentru ca noi stim ca, de fapt, Africa este singura regiune din lume unde foamea si malnutrinitia se preconizeaza ca se vor accentua in urmatorii 10 ani. Unde factura mancarii importate este acum dubla fata de cum a fost in urma cu 20 de ani. Unde productia de hrana pe cap de locuitor a stagnat, si unde folosirea fertilizarii a scazut in loc sa creasca. De ce pietele agricole nu au raspuns asteptarilor? Reformele pietei preconizate de catre Vest -- si am petrecut aproape 15 ani calatorind de-a lungul continentului facand cercetari asupra pietelor agricle, si am intervievat comercianti in 10 - 15 tari de pe acest continent -- sute de comercianti -- incercand sa inteleg ceea ce a fost gresit in reforma pietii noastre. Mi se pare ca aceste reforme ar putea sa fi aruncat copilul din cada impreuna cu apa din ea.
Like its agriculture, Africa's markets are highly under-capitalized and inefficient. We know from our work around the continent that transaction costs of reaching the market, and the risks of transacting in rural, agriculture markets, are extremely high. In fact, only one third of agricultural output produced in Africa even reaches the market. Africa's markets are weak not only because of weak infrastructure in terms of roads and telecommunications, but also because of the virtual absence of necessary market institutions, such as market information, grades and standards, and reliable ways to connect buyers and sellers. Because of this, commodity buyers and sellers typically transact in small circles, in narrow networks of people they know and trust. And because of that, as grain changes hands -- and I've measured that it changes hands four, five times in its trajectory from the farmer to the consumer -- every time it changes hands -- and I've seen this all over rural Africa -- it also changes sacks.
Ca si agricultura, pietele africane sunt in mare parte sub-capitalizate si ineficiente. Noi stim din munca noastra pe intreg continentul ca, costurile de tranzactie pentru a ajunge la piata, si ca riscurile tranzactionarii in pietele agriculturii rurale, sunt extrem de mari. De fapt, numai o treime din productia agricola produsa in Africa ajunge chiar in piata. Pietele africane sunt slabe, nu numai din cauza infrastructurii slabe in ceea ce priveste drumurile si telecomunicatiile, dar si din cauza absentei virtuale a institutiilor necesare pietii precum informatii de piata, grade si standarde si cai viabile de a conecta cumparatorii de vanzatori. Din cauza acestui fapt, cumparatorii si vanzatorii de marfuri tranzactioneaza, de obicei, in cercuri mici, in retele inguste de oameni pe care-i cunosc si in care au incredere. Si din cauza aceasta, cum cerealele trec prin mai multe maini -- si am masurat ca acestea se schimba de patru, cinci ori in traseul lor de la fermier la consumator -- de fiecare data cand trec dintr-o mana in alta -- si am vazut asta pe intreg teritoriul Africii rurale -- se schimba si sacii.
And I thought that was incredibly peculiar. And really realized that that was because -- as traders would tell me over and over -- that's the only way people know what they're getting in terms of the quantity and the product quality. And that actually has huge implications for the ability of markets to quickly respond to price signals, and situations where there are deficits, for example. It also has very high cost implications. I have measured that 26 percent of the marketing margin is simply due to the fact that, because of the absence of grades and standards and market information, sacks have to be constantly changed. And this leads to very high handling costs. For their part, small farmers, who produce the bulk of our agricultural output in Africa, come to the market with virtually no information at all -- blind -- trusting that they're going to have some sort of demand for their produce, and completely at the mercy of the merchants in the only market, the nearest local market they know -- where they're unable to negotiate better prices or reduce their risk.
Si m-am gandit ca asta a fost incredibil de deosebit. Si am inteles ca aceasta se intampla pentru ca -- dupa cum imi spun comerciantii odata si inca o data -- aceasta este singura cale prin care oamenii stiu ce primesc in termenii cantitatii si calitatii produselor. Si aceasta are implicatii enorme asupra abilitatii pietelor de a raspunde promt la semnalele pretului, si la situatii cand sunt deficite, de exemplu. De asemenea are implicatii foarte mari asupra costului. Am masurat ca 26 de procente din marja de marketing se datoreaza absentei gradelor si standardelor si informatiilor de piata, sacii trebuie sa fie in mod constant schimbati. Si acest fapt conduce la costuri de manuire foarte mari. La rândul lor, micii fermieri, care produc cea mai mare parte a producţiei noastre agricole în Africa vin la piaţă practic cu nici o informaţie - orbeste. Fiind increzatori ca vor avea o cat de cat cerere pentru produsele lor, si sunt complet la mana comerciantilor in singura piata, cea mai apropriata piata pe care ei o cunosc -- unde ei nu sunt in masura sa negocieze preturi mai bune sau sa-si reduca riscul.
Speaking of risk, we have seen that price volatility of food crops in Africa is the highest in the world. In Africa, small farmers bear the brunt of this risk. In fact, in my view, there is no region of the world and no period in history that farmers have been expected to bear the kind of market risk that Africa's farmers have to bear. And in my view, there is simply no place in the world that has grown its agriculture on the kind of risk that our farmers in Africa today face. In Ethiopia, for example, the variation in maize prices from year to year is as much as 50 percent annually. This kind of market risk is mind-boggling, and has direct implications for not only the incentives of farmers to invest in higher productivity technology, such as modern seeds and fertilizers, but also direct implications for food security.
Vorbind de risc, am văzut că volatilitatea preţurilor culturilor alimentare în Africa este cea mai mare din lume. În Africa, mici fermieri duc greul acestui risc. De fapt, în opinia mea, nu există nici o regiune a lumii şi nici o perioadă din istorie in care fermierii au trebuit sa suporte tipul de risc al pietii pe care fermierii din Africa trebuie sa le suporte. Si in opinia mea, pur si simplu nu exista loc in lume care si-a construit propria agricultura pe tipul de risc pe care fermierii nostrii din Africa zilelor noastre il infrunta. In Etiopia, de exemplu, variatia preturilor porumbului de la un an la altul este de 50 de procente anual. Acest fel de risc al pietii este innebunitor, si are implicatii directe nu numai pentru stimulentele fermierilor de a investi în tehnologie cu productivitate mai mare, cum ar fi seminţe moderne şi îngrăşăminte, dar, de asemenea cu implicaţii directe pentru securitatea alimentară.
To give you an example, between 2001 and 2002, Ethiopian maize farmers produced two years of bumper harvest. That in turn, because of the weak marketing system, led to an 80 percent collapse in maize prices in the country. This made it unprofitable for some farmers to even harvest the grain from the fields. And we calculated that some 300,000 tons of grain was left in the fields to rot in early 2002. Not six months later, in July 2002, Ethiopia announced a major food crisis, to the same proportions as 1984: 14 million people at risk of starvation. What also happened that year is in the areas where there were good rains, and where farmers had previously produced surplus grain, farmers had decided to withdraw from the fertilizer market, not use fertilizer and actually had dropped their use of fertilizer by 27 percent. This is a tragic example of arrested development, or a budding green revolution stopped in its tracks. And this is not just specific to Ethiopia, but happens over and over, all over Africa.
Ca sa va ofer un exemplu, intre 2001 si 2002 agricultorii etiopieni de porumb au produs doi ani productia maxima. Aceasta, la rândul său, din cauza sistemului de comercializare slab, a condus la un colaps cu 80 la sută al preţurilor la porumb în ţară. Acest lucru a făcut-o neprofitabilă pentru unii agricultori chiar si recolta de cereale din camp. Şi am calculat că aproximativ 300.000 de tone de cereale a fost lăsată pe camp sa putrezească la începutul anului 2002. Nici şase luni mai târziu, în iulie 2002, Etiopia a anunţat o criză majoră alimentară, de aceleasi proportii ca cea din 1984 -- 14 milioane de oameni riscand sa moara de foame. Ce s-a intamplat de asemenea in acel an este în zonele în care au fost ploi bune, şi unde agricultorii au avut anterior productii excedentare de cereale, agricultorii au decis să se retragă de pe piaţa ingrasamintelor, să nu utilize fertilizatori, şi de fapt, au scăzut utilizarea de îngrăşăminte cu 27 procente. Acesta este un exemplu tragic de dezvoltare oprită, sau de revolutie verde abia inmugurita oprita din drumul ei. Şi acest lucru nu este specific doar pentru Etiopia, dar se intampla peste tot, pe tot cuprinsul Africii.
Well, I'm not here today to lament about the situation, or wring my hands. I am here to tell you that change is in the air. Africa today is not the Africa waiting for aid solutions, or cookie-cutter foreign expert policy prescriptions. Africa has learned, or is learning somewhat slowly, that markets don't happen by themselves. In the 1980s, it was very fashionable to talk about getting prices right. There was a very influential book about that, which was mainly about getting governments out of the market. We now recognize that getting markets right is about not just price incentives, but also investing in the right infrastructure and the appropriate and necessary institutions to create the conditions to unleash the power of innovation in the market. When conditions are right, we know and see that that innovation is ready to explode in rural Africa, just like anywhere else.
Ei bine, eu nu sunt aici, astăzi, pentru a ma lamenta despre situaţie, sau pentru a-mi rasuci mâinile. Sunt aici să vă spun că schimbarea pluteste în aer. Africa de astăzi nu este Africa ce aşteaptă solutii de ajutor, sau reţete prefabricate ale experţilor de politică externă. Africa a invatat, ori invata -- intr-un fel incet -- că pieţele nu se intampla de la sine. In anii '80, era foarte la moda sa vorbesti despre obtinerea pretului corect. Era o carte foarte influenta despre aceasta, care era în principal despre eliminarea guvernelor de pe piaţă. Noi acum recunoastem ca, corectia pietelor nu se face doar prin stimulente pentru preturi, dar in egala masura prin investitii corecte in infrastructura si in institutii adecvate si necesare, care sa creeze conditiile pentru a elibera puterea de inovare in piata. In cazul in care conditiile sunt propice, noi stim si vedem faptul ca inovarea este gata sa explodeze in Africa rurala, la fel ca oriunde în altă parte.
Nearly three years ago, I decided to leave my comfortable job as a World Bank senior economist in Washington and come back to my country of birth, Ethiopia, after nearly 30 years abroad. I did so for a simple reason. After having spent more than a decade understanding, studying, and trying to convince policymakers and donors about what was wrong with Africa's agricultural markets, I decided it was time to do something about it. I currently lead, in Ethiopia, an exciting new initiative to establish the first Ethiopia Commodity Exchange, or ECX. Now, the commodity exchange itself, that concept, is not new to the world. In fact, in 1848, 82 grain merchants and farmers got together in a small town at the crossroads of the Illinois River and Lake Michigan to establish a way to trade better amongst themselves.
Aproape trei ani in urma, am decis să părăsesc slujba mea confortabilă de economist senior al Băncii Mondiale din Washington si sa ma intorc in tara mea natala, Etiopia, dupa aproape 30 de ani in strainatate. Am facut-o pentru un motiv simplu. După ce am petrecut mai mult de un deceniu, înţelegând, studiind, şi încercând să conving factorii de decizie politică şi donatorii despre ceea ce a fost greşit cu pieţele agricole ale Africii am decis ca este timpul sa fac ceva pentru asta. In momentul de fata conduc, in Etiopia, o initiativa noua de a infiinta prima Bursa Etiopiana de Produse , sau ECX. Acum, schimbul de mărfuri în sine, ca noţiune, nu este nou in lume. De fapt, în 1848, 82 negustori de cereale şi agricultori s-au reunit intr-un oras mic aflat la intersecţia râului Illinois şi Laculului Michigan pentru a stabili o modalitate mai buna a schimburilor comerciale între ei.
That was, of course, the birth of the Chicago Board of Trade, which is the most famous commodity exchange in the world. The Chicago Board of Trade was established then for precisely the same reasons that our farmers today would benefit from a commodity exchange. In the American Midwest, farmers used to load grain onto barges and send it upriver to the Chicago market. But once it arrived, if no buyer was to be found, or if prices suddenly dropped, farmers would incur tremendous losses. And in fact, would even dump the grain in Lake Michigan, rather than spend more money transporting it back to their farms. Well, the need to avoid these huge risks and tremendous losses led to the birth of the futures market, and the underlying system of grading grain and receipting -- issuing warehouse receipts on the basis of which trade could be done.
Acesta a fost cu siguranta momentul in care s-a infiintat Chicago Board of Trade, care este cea mai cunoscuta piata de marfuri din lume. The Chicago Board of Trade s-a infiintat atunci pentru exact aceleasi motive pentru care agricultorii zilelor noastre ar beneficia de schimbul de marfuri. In American Midwest, agricultorii obisnuiau sa incarce cereale in barje şi sa le trimita in amonte catre piaţă din Chicago. Dar odata ajunse, daca nu se gaseau cumparatori, sau daca preturile scadeau brusc, agricultorii ar suporta pierderi enorme. Si de fapt, chiar ar rasturna cerealele in Lacul Michigan, decat sa cheltuie mai multi bani pentru ca sa le transporte inapoi la fermele lor. Ei bine, nevoia de a evita aceste riscuri enorme si pierderi impresionante a condus la nasterea viitoarelor piete, si a stat la baza sistemului de clasificare a cerealelor si receptie -- emiterea chitantelor de depozit pe baza carora schimbul poate sa aiba loc.
From there, the greatest innovation of all came about in this market, which is that buyers and sellers could transact grain without actually having to physically or visually inspect the grain. That meant that grain could be traded across tremendous distances, and even across time -- as far forward as 18 months into the future. This innovation is at the heart of the transformation of American agriculture, and the rise of Chicago to a global market, agricultural market, superpower from where it was, a small regional town. Now, over the last century, we tend to think of commodity exchanges as the purview of Western industrialized countries, and that the reference prices for cotton, coffee, cocoa -- products produced mainly in the south -- are actually a reference price, or a price discovered in these organized commodity exchanges in the northern countries. But that is actually changing.
De aici, cea mai mare inovatie din toate a aparut pe aceasta piata, care este faptul ca vanzatorii si cumparatorii pot tranzactiona cereale de fapt fără a trebui sa inspecteze fizic sau vizual cerealele. Aceasta inseamna ca cerealele pot fi tranzactionate la distante enorme, si chiar in timp -- cu pana la 18 luni in viitor. Aceasta inovatie sta la baza transformarii agriculturii americane, si la avansarea orasului Chicago ca piata globala, piata agricola, superputere de la ce era -- un mic oras regional. Acum, in ultimul secol, avem tendinţa să ne gândim la bursele de mărfuri ca un subiect de competenta tarilor industrializate vestice. Si ca pretul de referinta pentru bumbac, cafea, cacao -- produse fabricate in principal in Sud -- sunt de fapt preturi de referinta, sau un pret descoperit in aceste schimburi organizate de marfuri din tarile Nordice. Dar de fapt aceasta se schimba.
And we're seeing a shift -- powered mainly because of information technology -- a shift in market dominance towards the emerging markets. And over the last decade, you see that the share of Western exchanges -- and this is the U.S. share of exchanges in the world -- has gone down by nearly half in just the last decade. Similarly, there's been explosive growth in India, for example, where rural farmers are using exchanges -- growing here over the last three years by 270 percent a year. This is powered by low-cost VSAT technology, aggressively trying to reach farmers to bring them into the market. China's Dalian Commodity Exchange, three years ago, 2004, overtook the Chicago Board of Trade to become the second largest commodity exchange in the world. Now, in Ethiopia, we're in the process of designing the first organized Ethiopia Commodity Exchange. We're not trying to cut and paste the Chicago model or the India model, but creating a system uniquely tailored to Ethiopia's needs and realities, Ethiopia's small farmers.
Si noi asistam la o schimbare, generata in principal datorita tehnologiei informatiei, O schimbare in dominatia pietei spre pietele emergente. Si in ultimul deceniu, veti observa ca ponderea schimburilor vestice -- si acest lucru este proportia schimburilor SUA in lume -- a scazut cu aproape jumătate în doar ultimul deceniu. Similar, este o crestere exploziva in India, de exemplu, unde agricultorii rurali folosesc schimburile -- crestere aici în ultimii trei ani, de 270 la sută pe an. Acest lucru este alimentat de tehnologia VSAT ieftina, incercand agresiv sa ajunga la agricultori si sa-i aduca in piata. China's Dalian Commodity Exchange, trei ani in urma -- 2004 -- a pus stapanire pe Chicago Board of Trade devenind a doua piata de schimburi de marfuri din lume. Acum, in Etiopia, noi ne aflam in proces de proiectare a primei Piete Etiopiene de Marfuri organizate. Noi nu incercam sa copiem modelul Chicago sau modelul Indian, ci sa creem un sistem unic adaptat la nevoile si realitatilor etiopiene, micilor agricultori Etiopieni.
So, the ECX is an Ethiopian exchange for Ethiopia. We're creating a system that serves all market actors, that creates integrity, trust, efficiency, transparency and enables small farmers to manage the risks that I have described. In the design of our commodity exchange in Ethiopia, we've done something rather unique, which is to take the approach of an integrated perspective, or what we call the ECX Edge. The ECX Edge pretty much creates the entire ecosystem in which the market will develop itself. And this is because one of the things we've learned over the last decade of studying market development in Africa is that the piecemeal approach does not work. You've got one donor trying to develop market information, another trying to work on or sponsor grades and standards, another ICT, and yet another on warehousing, or warehouse receipts.
Asa ca, ECX este schimbul Etiopian pentru Etiopia. Noi creeeam un sistem care serveste tuturor actorilor pietii. Aceasta creeaza integritate, incredere, eficienta, transparenta si permite micilor agricultori sa gestioneze riscurile pe care le-am descris. In proiectarea schimbului de marfuri in Etiopia, noi am facut ceva mai degraba unic, care este de a aborda dintr-o perspectiva integrata sau ceea ce noi numim ECX Edge. ECX Edge creaza in mare parte intregul eco-sistem in care piata se va dezvolta de la sine. Şi asta pentru că unul din lucrurile pe care le-am învăţat in ultima decada de studii privind dezvoltarea pietei in Africa este faptul că abordare fragmentată nu funcţionează. Ai un donor care incearca sa dezvolte informatiile din piata, altul incearca sa faca sau sponsorizeze gradele si standardele un altul ICT, si inca unul pentru depozitare -- sau pentru chitantele de depozit.
In our approach in Ethiopia, we've decided to put together the entire ecosystem, or environment, in which trade takes place. That means that the exchange will operate a trading system, which will initially start as an open outcry, because we don't think the country's ready for full electronic trading. But at the same time, we'll do something which I think no exchange in the world has ever done, which is itself to operate something like an Internet cafe in the rural areas. So that farmers and small traders can actually come to a terminal center -- what we call the remote access terminal centers -- and actually, without having to buy a computer or figure out how to dial up or any of those things, simply see the trading that's happening on the Addis Ababa trading floor.
In abordarea noastra in Etiopia, noi am decis sa punem impreuna intregul eco-sistem, sau mediu, in care schimburile iau parte. Aceasta inseamna ca schimbul va opera un sistem de comercializare, care va începe iniţial ca o licitatie prin strigare. Pentru ca noi nu credem ca tara este pregatita pentru un sistem de comert complet electronic. Dar, in acelasi timp, noi vom face ceva care eu cred ca nici un comert din lume nu a facut vreodata, care in sine opereaza ca ceva similar Internet cafe-urilor din zonele rurale. Asa ca agricultorii si micii comericanti pot efectiv sa vina la un centru terminal -- ceea ce noi numim centre terminale la distanta -- si de fapt, fara sa fie nevoie sa cumperi un computer sau sa inveti cum sa faci o conexiune dial up sau alte lucruri din acestea, sa vezi pur si simplu comertul care are loc la bursa de comert din Adiss Ababa.
At the same time, what's very fundamental to this market is that -- and again, an innovation that we've designed for our exchange -- is that the exchange will operate warehouses around the country, in which grade certification and warehouse receipting will be done. And in turn, we'll operate an in-house clearing system, to assure that payment is done appropriately, in the right amount and at the right time, so that basically, we create trust and integrity in the system. Obviously, we work with exchange actors, and as we're developing the exchange market itself, we're also developing the regulatory infrastructure and legal framework, the overarching legal framework for making this market work.
In acelasi timp, ce este fundamental pentru aceasta piata este ca -- si din nou, o inovatie pe care noi am proiectat-o pentru bursa noastra -- este ca schimburile vor opera in silozuri pe intreg teritoriul tarii, in care certificatele-grade si chitantele-depozit sunt eliberate. Si in schimb noi vom opera un sistem propriu de compensare, pentru a asigura ca plata este facuta corespunzator, in suma convenita si la timpul potrivit, asa ca de fapt noi creem incredere si integritate in sistem. Evident noi lucram cu actorii schimbului, si pe masura ce dezvoltam piata de schimburi insasi, noi de asemenea dezvoltam infrastructura de reglementari si cadrul legal -- cadrul legal general pentru a face această piaţă sa functioneze.
So, in fact, our proclamation is going to parliament next month. What's really important is that the ECX will operate a market information system to disseminate prices in real time to farmers around the country, using VSAT technology to bring an electronic price dissemination directly to farmers. What this does is transforms, fundamentally, the farmers' relationship to the market. Whereas before the farmer used to think local -- meaning that he or she would go to the nearest local market, eight to 10 kilometers away on average, and sell whatever they happened to have, without any idea of what the price premium or anything else was -- now farmers come with knowledge of what prices are at the national market. And they start to think national, and even global. They start to make not only commercial marketing decisions, but also planting decisions, on the basis of information coming from the futures price market. And they come to the market knowing what grades their products will achieve in terms of a price premium.
Asa ca de fapt, proclamatia noastra ajunge in parlament luna viitoare. Ce e cu adevărat important este că ECX va opera un sistem de informaţii de piaţă pentru a difuza preţurile în timp real catre agricultorii din tara, folosind tehnologia VSAT pentru a introduce diseminarea electronica a preţului, direct catre argicultori. Ceea ce aceasta transforma, fundamental, este relatia agricultorului cu piata. Intrucat inainte agricultorul era obisnuit sa gandeasca local -- intelegand ca el sau ea trebuiau sa mearga la cea mai apropriata piata locala, opt la zece kilometri departare in medie, si sa vanda ceea ce se intampla ca ei sa aiba, fara nici o idee despre pretul mediu sau orice altceva a fost -- acum agricultorii vin cunoscand care sunt preturile la nivel national. Si ei incep sa gandeasca national, si chiar global. Ei încep să facă nu numai decizii comerciale de piaţă, dar de asemenea decizii in ce priveste plantarea, pe baza informatiilor venite din piata preturilor viitoare. Si ei vin la piata stiind ce grade vor avea produsele lor in termenii pretului premium.
So all of this will transform farmers. It will also transform the way traders do business. It will stop them from doing simple, back-to-back, limited arbitrage to really thinking strategically about how to move grain across long distances from [surplus regions] to [deficit areas]. Can Ethiopia do this? It seems very ambitious. But it will create new opportunities. We believe that this initiative requires great political will, and we'll have to align the financial sector, as well as the ICT sector, and really even the underlying legal framework. We believe that the winds of change are here, and that we can do it. ECX is the market for Ethiopia's new millennium, which starts in about eight months.
Deci toate acestea vor transforma agricultorii. Si de asemenea vor transforma modul in care comerciantii vor face afaceri. Acesta-i va opri să facă acest simplu arbitraj limitat, back-to-back, si sa gândeasca strategic într-adevăr despre cum să mute cereale peste distanţe lungi de la zonele cu deficit, la regiunile excedentare Poate Etiopia sa faca asta? Pare foarte ambitios. Dar va crea noi oportunitati. Noi credem că această iniţiativă necesită o mare voinţă politică, si va trebui sa alinieze sectorul financiar precum si sectorul ICT, si chiar si cadrul legislativ care sta la baza acestora. Noi credem ca vantul schimbarii a sosit, si ca noi putem sa facem asta. ECX este piata Etiopiei noului mileniu, care va incepe in aproximativ opt luni.
The last parliament of our century opened with our president announcing to the country that this was the most important economic initiative for the country today. We believe that the stakes are high, but that the returns will be even greater. ECX, moreover, can become a trading platform for a pan-African market in agricultural commodities. Ethiopia's domestic market is about one billion dollars of value. And we feel that over the next five years, if Ethiopia can capture even 40 percent, just 40 percent, of the domestic market, and add just 25 percent value to that market, the value of the market doubles. Ethiopia's agricultural market is 30 percent higher than South Africa's grain production, and, in fact, Ethiopia is the second largest maize producer in Africa. So the potential is there. The will is there. The commitment is there. So we feel that we have a winning value proposition to transform farmers' choices, to grow our agriculture, and to change Africa. So, we are in the business of finding our happiness. Thank you very much.
Ultimul parlament al secolului nostru deschis de presedintele nostru anuntand tarii ca acesta a fost cea mai importanta initiativa economica a tarii de azi. Noi credem ca mizele sunt mari, dar ca beneficiile vor fi si mai mari. In plus ECX poate deveni o platformă de tranzacţionare pentru o piaţă pan-africană a bunurilor agricole. Piaţa internă Etiopiană este de aproximativ un miliard de dolari ca valoare. Si noi credem ca in urmatorii cinci ani, daca Etiopia ar putea capta chiar 40 de procente, numai 40 de procente ale pietii interne si adaugand numai 25 de procente ca valoare acestei piete, valoarea pietei se dubleaza. Piata agricola a Etiopiei este cu 30 de procente mai mare decat productia de cereala a Africii de Sud -- si de fapt, Etiopia este al doilea producator de porumb in Africa. Asa ca potentialul este acolo. Vointa este acolo. Angajamentul este acolo. Noi credem ca noi avem o propunere castigatore valoaroasa sa transformam optiunile fermierilor, sa crestem agricultura noastra, si de a schimba Africa. Asa ca, noi suntem in afacerea gasirii propriei noastre fericiri. Vă multumesc.
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