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Article

30 Jun 2011

Author:
Peter Davis, Overseas Development Institute in Guardian [UK]

The private sector must assume a central role in global development

Debates about the role of the private sector in development have got stuck in a rut, and suspicion of companies runs deep…It is…incontrovertible that the most significant reductions in poverty have been a result of private sector activity…Unfortunately…the global financial crisis…pushed 64 million people back into poverty…[F]ocusing solely on the economic development impacts of the private sector…means missing much of the point. Companies and markets affect virtually all of the issues involved in development…In the education field…the private sector plays a significant role. In Azerbaijan, BP established the Caspian Technical Training Centre to improve education in drilling and engineering disciplines…There is an overwhelming need…to take the market from the periphery of the development process to its very centre. [also refers to Shell, Chevron, Rio Tinto, Standard Chartered]