Hanoi: Partnership with Kiva.org

Have you guys heard about www.Kiva.org? Check it out. If all goes as planned, we will be their first Vietnamese partner. So look out for Vietnamese rice farmers from Dien Bien coming up on Kiva...! It should sell quickly. I asked Kiva how they market 1,000 new clients with the same 'at a glance' story - Rice Farmer, Dien Bien, 3-4 children, Hard Worker etc. Kiva told me that there are more donors than clients. In fact, when Kiva sold loans to clients in Afghanistan, the loans were provided for by Internet clients within 30 minutes. Kiva said the same for Cambodia...and apparently Vietnam has got momentum.

Basically, Kiva's concept is to enable MFIs (microfinance institutions) to raise low cost debt capital directly from social investors in America and Europe - using the internet. The internet lender can go onto the website and pick an entrepreneur -they can lend $25 to enable someone to jumpstart their business....the MFIs provide the pictures of the client (as well as a journal) and will wire back the money to Kiva and the internet lender. This is a 0% interest loan for the MFIs. If the client doesn't repay, the loss is borne 50% by the MFI and 50% by the internet lender. If the client repays, the lender can lend to someone else.

What's brilliant about this is the potential behind this concept - first of all, Kiva operates using paypal (for no charge), and has state of the art technology that is user friendly for staff in the field (i.e. can be done in the local language and is easy for credit officers in developing countries to understand how to operate the website - if they have internet access). Secondly, Kiva's operating costs are all supported by donations given by the Internet lenders when the lenders make their loans (as they are asked if they want to provide 10% to support Kiva). Kiva is run by a bunch of late-twenty something guys out of Silicon Valley. Starbucks is setting up a Kiva pilot project. Finally, Kiva's model currently operates with zero percent loans from lenders but Kiva is exploring interest-bearing loan options so that MFIs can offer an interest rate to internet lenders. So eventually you can invest money, earn interest, and look for returns (financial and social). Eventually the internet lender could compare rates for different projects - high risk projects leading to a higher return, etc. I was thinking about this a few years back before I started investing my money. I would be so much more interested to invest my money in socially important concepts that are secure...I think the young jaded-stock market generation would mobilize millions...