The boardroom at the General Electric Company at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City is a long way from villages in Ghana or rural communities in El Salvador. I was reminded this week, however, that the expertise, technologies, and resources of corporate America are important bridges to these faraway places. The private sector offers exciting, real options for growth for the poorest people of these countries, and MCC is partnering with the private sector to make our mutual efforts more effective and take this responsibility to heart. MCC signed an agreement with GE to explore areas of mutual cooperation and ways to leverage financing and technical know-how to help MCC countries find long-term solutions for reducing poverty and sustaining growth. From clean air and water technologies to corporate best practices, GE is willing to help our partners maximize their MCC funding to fulfill their own development priorities. GE Vice Chairman and CFO Keith Sherin and I spoke to a group of business leaders and opinion makers about the urgency for private sector engagement. MCC’s approach to foreign assistance—using a results-driven, corporate model —is encouraging the private sector to move beyond “charity” to a strong sense of corporate social responsibility in developing countries where they do business. I hope others will join the growing list of corporations that are engaging with our MCC partner countries. We’re creating a conversation about how these companies can and should provide the technologies, employment opportunities, and investments that will make MCC’s roads, bridges, ports, schools, and irrigation projects something that is much more than just stand-alone infrastructure. With the private sector’s involvement, they become real opportunities for sustainable development.

MCC countries must demonstrate a commitment to democracy to be eligible for our grant funding. Democracy is multifaceted—it’s not just about elections or governance—and we believe that well functioning democratic institutions provide an environment that leads to sustainable economic growth. Last week, MCC hosted an expert panel at our Washington headquarters to address this issue and to look at the links between a free press and economic growth. Our panelists agreed that raising the profile of this important issue is a cornerstone of what MCC helps partner countries strive for, and achieve. Keeping corruption in check requires a free press that can investigate, uncover, and report. Only when the press functions as a viable, independent institution can it truly fulfill its role in society. MCC programs in developing countries are training journalists, strengthening institutions that fight corruption, increasing transparency, and helping build democracies.

MCC continues to bring people around the table to talk about global poverty. Earlier this week while in New York to sign the memorandum of understanding with GE, I was reminded of how much interest there is in the United States to address this problem. From prominent members of the Philippine-American community, to business leaders, to the media, to promising students at places like Manhattan’s Hunter College, we are a nation that takes development assistance seriously. The U.S. taxpayer investment that MCC represents is a symbol of this commitment, but so is the urgency with which the private sector in America—through philanthropic efforts, involvement in critical issues like gender, the environment, human rights, and increased investment—has taken on this responsibility. Poverty is a problem that merits this serious contribution from public and private sector America, and MCC is proud to be part of this conversation and commitment.

(Technical edits were made to this post on April 9, 2008 at 5:13 p.m. —Ed.)

Last week’s MCC Board meeting added a new country to the list of countries eligible for MCC compact funding—the Philippines. This decision was actually the culmination of a discussion that began during our December meeting, when the Board asked for a deeper analysis of the data before making a final determination. The Board decided that, based on the Philippines’ continued performance on MCC’s indicators, it could now apply for funding for a large-scale poverty-reduction grant. The initial reaction to this announcement—from civil society and government partners—confirms that there is a great deal of interest and commitment from various sectors in helping the Philippines maintain its eligibility on the indicators we compile from independent, transparent, non-U.S. Government sources. A number of good ideas on this front—and some important concerns—were raised during our public outreach meeting following the Board meeting. It underscored for me that the best way to ensure that the Philippines’ policy-reform agenda continues is to keep it in the public eye. MCC compact eligibility certainly spotlights these efforts. Impediments to economic growth are issues that MCC takes seriously with all our partner countries, particularly corruption which receives special consideration as part of our model. The ball is now in the Philippines’ court to develop a proposal that involves broad consultation with its people and to continue tackling those problems that stand in the way of long-term economic growth.

People from diverse sectors of society continue to talk about MCC’s different model as conversations about foreign assistance increase, in communities both inside and outside the beltway. It is clear from these conversations that poverty reduction abroad is not just a “Washington issue.” It affects all Americans and was clearly on the minds of the business leaders who I met with at a recent event in Indianapolis organized by the Initiative for Global Development (IGD). An increasing number of companies, large and small, have asked MCC to explain how they can get involved to maximize the positive impact of MCC investments for the people of our partner countries. We view involvement from the private sector as key to our success.

MCC has a great deal to learn from companies who are operating internationally, and we continue to invite development experts, the NGO community, and the private sector to share best practices and discuss concerns with us. While grants from the U.S. Government can help address areas of critical need, they simply cannot provide the full range of technology and long-term market-driven investments that the private sector can. MCC offers the helpful push to spark the interest of the private sector that millions of people—living on less than $2 a day—desperately need. The responsible, long-term cooperation of the private sector is what will help these people through the “finish line” to experience an end to systemic poverty. (Read a recent Washington Post article that touches on these themes.)

With compacts in 16 countries and threshold programs in 17 countries, MCC’s work covers a broad spectrum of technical and policy areas. We are working to improve the way we communicate the nature of our work and have made recent changes to our quarterly status reports, including a new project timeline and other features. Our hope is that this report can offer a more detailed “snapshot” of where we are in our work with partner countries. We are also proud of our groundbreaking use of economic rates of return in our analysis. We’ve put this data on the web with interactive features for you to explore. We welcome your feedback, and I invite you to e-mail us at info@mcc.gov with your ideas for how we can improve the way we communicate with you as we work together to reduce poverty through economic growth .

MCC headquarters, for those of you who haven’t visited us yet, is a relatively small space designed to house the 300 people who work in our organization. Its size notwithstanding, we maintain an open-door policy and welcome as many individuals and groups as possible to learn about MCC, our ongoing projects in partner countries, and to talk about how we can learn together from this process and tackle the problem of systemic poverty worldwide. Just this week, over 260 people have been in our offices, as we hosted public outreach sessions: one celebrating our most recent $698 million compact with Tanzania signed by President Bush and President Kikwete, and one focusing on ongoing implementation progress with our $461 million compact with El Salvador.

I view these meetings as a continuation of the all-important and all-inclusive consultative process — something we expect from our countries as a hallmark of our model, and something MCC does here in the U.S. with our stakeholders. This process doesn’t end when compacts are signed or in implementation, and our public discussions are indicative of this commitment.

We explored investment opportunities in Tanzania this week, so that private- sector investments can complement MCC efforts and encourage deeper long-term growth. Small- and medium-sized companies, including those owned and operated by minorities and women, came to ask questions about our work and how they can get involved. Together with the government of El Salvador and Vice Minister Margarita Escobar, we explored similar areas of opportunity in the northern region of El Salvador. The message of the meeting was clear: There are exciting things happening in this region of El Salvador because of MCC’s work through FOMILENIO (the local entity responsible for implementing MCC’s $461 million grant) and investors are the ones who can help the people increase the pace in their battle against poverty. We heard about Salvadorans who are building new tourism projects, investing millions of private dollars that are leveraged by MCC’s public investment in roads, education, and training. We are very excited to see the Salvadoran diaspora taking advantage of these opportunities by investing in their home country and creating hundreds of jobs, and more important, generating hope for the poor people living in El Salvador’s Northern Zone.

The consultative process is more than just meetings with investors and stakeholders from our partner countries. This week I testified before the House Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations in what could also be considered part of this open, transparent dialogue on MCC. The hearing was — as it should be —rigorous and probing, and allowed MCC to talk to one of its most important stakeholders, the US Congress, about our progress to date and our plans for the future. I am keenly aware that the funds we at MCC administer are taxpayer investments. When you are before a group of elected officials, as I was on Tuesday, you must demonstrate how your organization is fulfilling its mission. I was proud to be able to tell Congress that MCC is doing what it was designed to do: helping countries reduce poverty and sustain growth, based on a sound foundation of good government policies. I was pleased to note the positive and encouraging reaction of certain committee members and told the group as a whole that we welcome further dialogue with them — as we do with all our stakeholders — on MCC’s work. That’s what makes this a real consultative process and guides us in fulfilling our mission in even better ways.