The 2015 Annual Meeting was hosted by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Copenhagen.
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark
Date: Wednesday 17 to Thursday 18 June 2015
Wednesday 17 June: Exploration of the theme ‘megatrends in private sector development’
Private Sector Development (PSD) in developing countries will change enormously in the next few years due to new global developments and trends. The first day of the DCED’s Annual Meeting was therefore dedicated to a technical discussion on Mega-trends in private sector development to explore some of the changes most likely to impact the work of DCED members in promoting economic opportunities for the poor. Selected presentations and complementary reading can be found below.
- Keynote address: Jan Mischke, McKinsey Global Institute (MGI), outlined four key ‘disruptive trends’ which McKinsey believe will shape the global economy going forward.
- New players and partners: Should donors collaborate more with emerging powers to promote PSD? Emerging powers approach development with different models. This session explored those models and the learning opportunities they offer for ‘traditional’ donors. It also explored practical lessons in trilateral cooperation.
- Tom de Bruyn, KU Leuven, provided an overview of development cooperation by emerging powers, including their cooperation sectors, aid modalities and project examples of collaborations with ‘traditional’ donors. Tom has published various papers on the topic, for example on the cooperation approaches of Brasil, India, China and South Africa.
- Lidia Cabral, Institute of Development Studies, gave an overview of the Brazilian approach to international cooperation, with a focus on agriculture. She also reviewed obstacles and opportunities for greater collaboration between the Brazilian Cooperation Agency and European donors.
- Sophie Mottram, Landell Mills, presented on experiences in managing the AgriTT programme, a trilateral development programme between the UK, China and a number of African countries. It links China’s expertise in agricultural technology with the UK’s experience in implementing development projects.
Further reading:
- Urbanisation: What are opportunities and challenges for private sector development? Urbanisation is shaping economic challenges and opportunities in emerging economies. In Africa, for example, the share of people living in cities is predicted to rise from 36% in 2010, to 50% in 2030. While urbanisation has often been accompanied by growth of a middle class, it has also led to poverty and inequality.
- Dan Dowling, Urbanisation and Climate Change, PwC offered a practical example on the role of the private sector in cities, and spatial development in Ethiopia.
Further reading:
- Howard Miller, What are the features of urbanisation and cities that promote productivity, employment and salaries?, EPS PEAKS 2015;
- Dani Rodrik, Premature Deindustrialization, NBER Working Paper 2015
- Innovative Financing Solutions: How can pension funds be channelled to development finance? Donors may need to consider new ways of engage with the private sector as aid flows decrease relative to global capital flows. Peter Damgaard Jensen, PKA (Danish Pension Fund) explored how donors can leverage the resources of institutional investors such as pension funds.
- New technologies: What are opportunities and challenges for private sector development? The RIICE project uses satellite photography to predict levels of rice production and targets insurance to communities likely to be affected each season. Michael Anthony, Project Coordinator from Sarmap (previously Allianz Re), describes lessons learned using emerging technologies and PPPs to help communities to protect their livelihoods against changing and unpredictable weather patterns. Visit the RIICE website here.
Thursday, 18 June: Annual Meeting Business Day
The formal business day (18 June) included review of progress during the last year and agreement on the work plan and budget for FY 2015-2016. Member agencies also presented on priorities and trends in their organisation.