WRI Teams Up with IFC for BOP Research

From One Billion to Four Billion

Moving from the usual one billion next customers to four billion, next Monday the World Resource Institute and the International Finance Corporation will be presenting their latest findings on the market at the base of the pyramid (see invite below).

Base is the more politically correct term for what C.K. Prahalad, who will be present, has called the bottom of the pyramid, for, as one of the participants at the recent UN meets Silicon Valley event asked the audience, would you want to live at the bottom of anything?

Invitation
The World Resources Institute and the International Finance Corporation cordially invite you to the presentation of the report:

The Next 4 Billion:

Market Size & Business Strategy at the Base of the Pyramid

Discussions of base of the pyramid (BOP) markets have relied principally on business case studies and rough estimates of market size. WRI, with the cooperation of the International Finance Corporation, has enjoyed unique access to national household surveys for the purpose of understanding low-income communities as economic actors. Drawing on income data from 110 countries and standardized expenditure data from 36 countries across the globe, the report is an important first look at the market opportunity represented by four billion individuals who make up the BOP. This briefing on the report and the follow-on discussion of business strategy and market research will be the first public review of the report and its data.

Date and time: Monday, March 19, 2007 at 11:00 a.m.

Location: International Finance Corporation Auditorium, 2121 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington DC, 20433

Featuring:
C.K. Prahalad, Paul and Ruth McCracken Distinguished University Professor of Corporate Strategy, Stephen M. Ross School of Business, University of Michigan

Nariman Behravesh, Executive Vice President and Chief Economist, Global Insight, Inc.

Michael Klein, Vice President for Private Sector Development for the World Bank and IFC, and Chief Economist, IFC

Jonathan Lash, President, World Resources Institute