The World Bank and its partners opened a unique marketplace for
development ideas in Beijing on Thursday, which involves 100
projects recommended by non-governmental organizations.
The bank said the China Development Marketplace exhibition was
opened to the public from Thursday afternoon to Friday afternoon at
the Beijing International Conference Center.
The ideas, or innovative economic and social development
projects, will compete for small grants from the bank on
Friday.
David Dollar, the China Country Director of the World Bank, said
one of the primary objectives of creating this marketplace is to
promote and support the growth of civil society organizations
(CSOs) in China.
Wu Zhong, director-general of the External Cooperation
Department of the State Council Poverty Alleviation Office, said
social participation in poverty reduction has been successful in
China.
The marketplace has explored a valuable means of mobilizing
social capital and encouraging CSOs to help reduce poverty, said
Wu.
It has also provided a good channel and vehicle for the private
sector to put their ideas for corporate social responsibility into
practice.
The bank received almost 1,000 proposal ideas for its theme,
"Supporting Innovations for Scaling-Up Services that Reach the
Poor", and the top 100 projects selected from 28 provinces have now
been invited to present their ideas and compete for grant funding
at the two-day marketplace event.
(Xinhua News Agency February 24, 2006)
