[00:07.08]The World Bank recently held a two-day competition as part of its Development Marketplace event.
[00:15.73]The event was held at the World Bank headquarters in Washington, D.C.
[00:22.62]Competitors presented ideas for new businesses designed to reduce poor conditions in developing countries.
[00:32.84]The World Bank received more than 2,000 proposals.
[00:38.92]The bank chose three hundred projects to be presented at the Development Marketplace later this month.
[00:48.20]World Bank President James Wolfensohn said the competition is about the future of development.
[00:56.71]He said it also is about making things happen now.
[01:02.54]Mister Wolfensohn said people must act now to prevent an increase in poverty
[01:10.35]along with the world's increasing population.
[01:14.63]More than 700 international organizations from more than sixty countries took part in the competition.
[01:25.24]They included governments, development banks, private groups and educational organizations.
[01:34.04]Experts judged theproposals on their effect on poverty,their creativity,
[01:42.27]and their costs compared to possible profits.
[01:46.14]Judges also looked for businesses that could be owned by communities
[01:52.69]that would most gain from the product or service.
[01:56.53]Forty-four projects won prizes at the Development Marketplace competition.
[02:03.27]They won between 27,000 dollars and 380,000 dollars.
[02:10.82]The World Bank gave a total of 5,000,000 dollars in prizes.
[02:17.35]One of the winners was a plan to end the cutting of female sexual organs in African countries.
[02:25.89]This traditional operation often leads to serious health problems.
[02:33.94]However, the people who perform these operations are considered very important and have much influence in their communities.
[02:45.25]The proposal called for giving these people business training.
[02:51.68]This way they could establish other small businesses instead of performing female circumcisions.
[02:59.59]Another winning project was a low-cost way for people to purify water.
[03:06.17]A project to put libraries on the Internet also won an award.
[03:12.31]And a project to help communities learn to protect their environment also won an award |