好莱坞式成见阻碍经济合作

    演员克林特•伊斯特伍德在上世纪60年代的一部电影《黄金三镖客》（The Good, the Bad and the Ugly）中扮演了一位独行侠，在寻找被盗黄金的过程中，与残忍的赏金猎人和墨西哥恶棍斗智斗勇。在电影里，我们一眼就能分辨出好人和坏人。然而随着西部片时代的结束，善恶的界限开始变得模糊。

    这部电影提醒我们，人们总倾向于对事物形成刻板的印象。最近，在尼泊尔加德满都的一次会议上，我谈到了企业在帮助当地经济发展、创造就业和消除贫困中的重要性。会议由国际山地综合发展中心（International Center for Integrated Mountain Development，ICIMOD）主办。这个究中心主要研究兴都库什-喜马拉雅山脉地区的发展问题，其中包括中国、印度、尼泊尔、阿富汗和不丹。

    一位与会者在得知我来自私营部门后，对我说：“哦，那你就是反派。”对于这种说法，我更多的是感到有趣而不是吃惊；从我在美国多个政府部门工作和担任公司高管的经历中，我发现，不管你选择什么职业，人们总是会对它抱着一定的成见：私营部门一直给人利益至上的形象，不可能做什么好事；而公共部门则往往与腐败挂钩，非营利部门却被打上了天真的标签。

    这些成见非常普遍，而且经常会阻碍经济发展。喜马拉雅地区的私营部门、公共部门和非营利部门如果能相互合作，必将更有效地消除贫困。然而，尽管亚太其他地区正在蓬勃发展，但喜马拉雅地区的不同部门却迟迟不能跳出政治和纷争的局限，精诚合作。政治与纷争是这个区域大部分地区始终不能摆脱贫困的主要原因。说了这么多公私合作消除贫困的话，如果我们能够放下成见和相互指责，这个贫困的山区必将从中受益。《坏人、腐败分子与天真的人》作为一部影片的名字或许会非常有意思，但对于建立推动合作关系所需的信任来说，却非常不利。

    交通不便和脆弱贫瘠的农业生态系统长期困扰着山区，因此我们必须更好地为他们服务。ICIMOD已经迈出了第一步，其他机构如果明智地话，应该马上跟进，寻求私营部门的合作。西方国家的商会和公司代表往往更愿意寻找共同的机会和共同关注的领域。同样，企业界也应该乐于倾听来自当地居民和政府的意见，以及其产品与服务的影响，尤其是对社会弱势群体成员的影响；应该让公司与发展社区共同支持调查研究，以制定出切实可行、脚踏实地的措施，帮助当地消除贫困。

    我们必须超越成见，以及对政治和商业的固有看法。只有这样，我们才能将亚洲的经济发展扩展到喜马拉雅山脉地区，让这个地区最重要的利益相关者，也就是一直以来都把兴都库什-喜马拉雅山脉地区视为自己的家园人们，能够从中受益。（财富中文网）

    陈天宗曾在巴拉克•奥巴马和乔治•W•布什任美国总统期间（2007 - 2010）担任美国驻亚洲开发银行大使。目前担任咨询公司RiverPeak Group, LLC常务董事。    

译者：刘进龙/汪皓

    In the 1960s film, "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly," actor Clint Eastwood plays a loner fighting off a ruthless bounty hunter and a Mexican bandit in pursuit of stolen gold. It's pretty easy to distinguish the good guys from the bad guys, but as the Western plays out, those lines start to blur.

    The film reminds us of our tendencies to form stereotypes. Recently, I spoke at a conference in Kathmandu, Nepal about the importance of business involvement in helping local economies grow, create jobs and fight poverty. It was hosted by the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), a research center studying development across the mountainous Hindu Kush-Himalayan region that includes China, India, Nepal, Afghanistan and Bhutan.

    One participant declared, 'Oh, you're one of the bad guys,' after learning that I was from the private sector. I was more amused than surprised by the remark; having worked in government under several U.S. administrations, and as a corporate executive, I realize stereotypes follow whichever career path you choose: The private sector has been cast as profit-driven folks unlikely to do good in the world; the public sector has been called corrupt, while the not-for-profit sector has been labeled naïve.

    As common as these stereotypes might be, they get in the way of economic development. The private, public and not-for-profit players in the Himalayan region can fight poverty better together, but they've been slow to come together and move beyond the politics and discord that keep far too much of the region poor, even as other parts of the Asia-Pacific see robust growth. With so much talk about how public-private partnerships could combat poverty, the impoverished mountain regions will benefit if we move beyond stereotypes and finger-pointing. "The Bad, the Corrupt and the Naive" may well be an interesting title for an upcoming film, but that's no prescription for building the kind of trust needed to move partnerships forward.

    We must better serve mountain communities often plagued by inaccessibility and fragile or poor agricultural ecosystems. ICIMOD has taken a first step and others would be smart to follow by beginning to seek the perspectives of the private sector. Chambers of commerce and individual business representatives from western countries are often more than willing to explore shared opportunities and areas of concern. Likewise, corporations should be open to listen to the views of residents and government about their practices and the impact of their products and services, particularly on the most vulnerable members of society; one idea is to have both business and development communities support research that will lead to actionable, on-the-ground efforts to fight poverty in the region.

    We must move beyond stereotypes, as well as politics and the business as usual mindset. Doing so is essential to extend Asia's economic growth to this mountain region's most important stakeholders – namely, the people who have long called the Hindu Kush-Himalaya their home.

    Curtis S. Chin, a former US ambassador to the Asian Development Bank under Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush (2007-2010), is managing director of advisory firm RiverPeak Group, LLC. Follow him on Twitter at @CurtisSChin.