Video chat with David Dollar (5)
Updated: 2008-02-25 09:15
CD: We covered a lot of small inventions in China regarding water saving, agriculture, air conditioning using dry air as a power source. When I was reading those reports, I was kind of wondering. Many of them are also applicable to many of the poor countries where electricity is in short supply, where the irrigation is too expensive. I thought those were good ideas. Will there be any sort of mechanism to spread out these type of things - not just from China to other developing countries but perhaps just between countries?
DD: I think that's a very good point. There are a lot of interesting successes at the micro level all around the world. There's the World Bank and there are other agencies like the World Bank. I think we do a pretty good job of disseminating some of these lessons but frankly the job is too big for any one institution, so I'm not satisfied with the current state. My own thought is that we need more direct South to South contact. It doesn't have to go through the World Bank or through some UN agency. It's often better if people just learn directly, South to South. And that's surprisingly difficult. As I travel around the world, I find there's a lot of interest in China, but if you go to South America, there really won't be that many who have been to China or really have that much direct experience. If I talk to Chinese friends, most of the educated ones, they've been to Europe, they've been to the United States. Much less likely they've been to South America or been to Africa. It's starting to happen, but I think there's much less of direct South to South contact. So I think if China puts money into supporting that, I think that's going to be a very positive thing.