NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

The World Bank has translated The Next 4 Billion into Japanese, and the Bank held a launch event in Tokyo, May 23. “The World Bank Tokyo Office is pleased to make this important research available to a broad audience in Japan,” said Lester Dally, World Bank Acting Special Representative in Japan. “The emerging role of the private sector in poverty alleviation is a topic of considerable interest here. Japan has a long history of leadership in overseas development assistance, and this research points the way toward a strong and complementary role for the private sector, working alongside bilateral and multilateral institutions.”

William Kramer, one of the work’s principal authors, and deputy director of DTE, delivered the keynote address at the launch. “As a market approaching $4 trillion, Asia represents the largest opportunity for beneficial business engagement with low-income communities,” he said. “Companies in Asia are leaders in BOP innovation, and that Japanese companies are waking up to the potential is a real tipping point.”The executive summary in Japanese was made available to those in attendance; a pdf is attached to this post (click “Read More” for attachment).