【雙語(yǔ)閱讀】印度的貧困之邦.

　　Business Bihar&aposs pro-business rorms Paper tiger

　　商業(yè) 比哈爾的利商改革 雷聲大，雨點(diǎn)小

　　There is more talk about rorm than action in India&aposs poorest state

　　印度的貧困之邦，改革都是浮云

　　IT IS surely no coincidence that Bihar, besides being India&aposs poorest state, has also been its least inviting for entrepreneurs. That is supposed to be changing. Nitish Kumar, Bihar&aposs chi minister, has spent his five years in office fixing the roads and other infrastructure. Crime has fallen, so the bright and wealthy are no longer frightened off by the threat of kidnapping, extortion and murder. Stability has allowed local trade to flourish. A state official reels off an impressive-sounding list of 398 approved investment proposals—from sugar mills to power plants—worth $4.8 billion. That all sounds rosy, until you look for success on the ground. India&aposs tycoons have visited, and lt, there is not one example of a big industrial investment to show for it.

　　比哈爾既掛著印度貧困邦的名頭，那它的招商引資做得最差，自然是情理之中的事。 這種現(xiàn)象本應(yīng)得到改善，比哈爾邦首席部長(zhǎng)Nitish Kumar于其任上的5年中，都在大興土木，改善基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施。 犯罪率降低了，顯貴們不會(huì)再被綁架、勒索和謀殺的威脅嚇跑。 穩(wěn)定帶來(lái)地區(qū)經(jīng)濟(jì)繁榮。 當(dāng)?shù)毓賳T甩出398份華麗麗的投資意向書，總值48億美元，內(nèi)容從糖廠覆蓋到能源。 看上去很美，實(shí)際都是浮云。 連一個(gè)大型工業(yè)投資的案例都拿不出來(lái)，無(wú)怪乎印度的商業(yè)大亨們?cè)诖说貋?lái)去匆匆不留銀了。

　　Perhaps local officials are failing to spot the brightest entrepreneurs—those dt enough to avoid the bureaucrats. Take the case of Husk Power Systems, formed in 2007 by three young Biharis and an American friend. It runs 50 micro power plants in rural areas fired by burning otherwise useless rice husks. Now employing more than 250 people, the firm sells cheap electricity to 200,000 rural folk, who previously relied on kerosene lamps or candles.

　　也許當(dāng)局沒(méi)有淘金的眼光，他們需要的是對(duì)避免官僚主義駕輕就熟的企業(yè)。 拿"米糠發(fā)電系統(tǒng)"為例，2007年，3個(gè)年輕的哈比爾人和一位美國(guó)朋友將該計(jì)劃成形。 僅僅靠燃燒無(wú)用的米糠，他們?cè)谵r(nóng)村地區(qū)經(jīng)營(yíng)起50家小型發(fā)電廠。 現(xiàn)在，這家擁有250多名員工的公司，為20多萬(wàn)農(nóng)村人口提供低價(jià)電，此前人們離不開的煤油燈和蠟燭，都退出了歷史舞臺(tái)。

　　Each power plant turns a profit in a few months, and Husk plans to build hundreds more in the next two years. But that is no thanks to Bihar&aposs pen-pushers. Scientific advisers in Delhi were "very helpful" with permits and business contacts. But the entrepreneurs try to avoid contact with the Bihar government as much as possible. An early brush-off from one of Mr Kumar&aposs deputies set the standard for their treatment.

　　幾個(gè)月后，每個(gè)發(fā)電廠都開始盈利，稻殼公司計(jì)劃在未來(lái)兩年增建100多個(gè)發(fā)電廠。 然而，比哈爾的官員們對(duì)這些成績(jī)毫無(wú)幫助。 德里的科學(xué)顧問(wèn)們?cè)谵k許可證和業(yè)務(wù)往來(lái)上稱得上是"磚家"， 但要和比哈爾政府打交道，企業(yè)家們都是唯恐避之不及。 一個(gè)前車之鑒就是，他們?cè)籏umar先生的眾多副手之一不友好地拒絕過(guò)。

　　Ratnesh Yadav, one of Husk&aposs founders, describes constant struggles with local corruption. A village policeman grabbed a bundle of cables for one of the first plants, demanding a bribe: the company rused, opting to bore him into submission instead. When Husk started building a centre to train its workers near the state capital, Patna, a neighbourhood tough-guy demanded 100,000 rupees ($2,250) in protection money. This was rused, so the builders were threatened, then beaten, and a mob flattened the construction site.

　　與地方腐敗的斗爭(zhēng)已是家常便飯，稻殼公司的創(chuàng)始人之一Ratnesh Yadav，有著如下講述。 一名"村警"從最早期的發(fā)電廠強(qiáng)占了一大捆電纜，以此向公司索賄，公司不但沒(méi)有接受，反而迫使他屈服。 當(dāng)公司在邦首府巴特那附近建設(shè)員工訓(xùn)練中心時(shí)，附近的無(wú)賴尋上門來(lái)，索要10萬(wàn)盧比(2250美元)的保護(hù)費(fèi)。 這一要求遭到拒絕，于是施工人員先是被威脅，接著被毆打，一群暴民還掃蕩了施工場(chǎng)地。

　　A Bihari property developer, while accepting that official corruption is a fact of life, laments how crooked officials in his state prer "taxing" inputs—the first investments made—to demanding a share in the output of an enterprise, a practice he says is more common in Bengal. Bengal-style graft at least means officials have a long-term interest in seeing the business thrive. The state government talks some fine talk about having made things easier for businesses, such as creating a "one-stop window" for them to submit all their paperwork. But half a dozen businessmen, asked about the window, hoot with laughter. It is nothing more than a postbox, says one; the papers are simply shuffled on to the same old unresponsive departments. An investor with political clout can get things done in perhaps four visits, otherwise, it&aposs a long wait.

　　比哈爾的一個(gè)房地產(chǎn)開發(fā)商，一邊接受官員腐敗的現(xiàn)實(shí)，一邊感慨著當(dāng)?shù)卣绱私圃p，官員們傾向于投入"課稅"(這個(gè)投入是投資者的首筆投資)，從而要求在其企業(yè)的產(chǎn)出中盤剝。 開發(fā)商說(shuō)，在孟加拉，這種現(xiàn)象更為普遍。 "孟式"貪污至少表明政府長(zhǎng)期樂(lè)見于商業(yè)的繁榮。邦政府曾有精彩言論，說(shuō)要降低商業(yè)事務(wù)辦理難度，例如開設(shè)"一站式窗口"，以便商人們投放文件資料。 然而，有6位商人在窗口咨詢時(shí)，遭遇了呵斥和嘲笑。 一名商人說(shuō)，這窗口充其量也就是個(gè)郵筒，那些文件被簡(jiǎn)單的混在得過(guò)且過(guò)的部門里。 政商也許4次登門拜訪就能把事情搞定，其他投資者，就只有"等到花兒也謝了"。