Page 338 - 2019 6th AFIS & ASMMA

the state level, which does complicate things. In India, for instance,
our project had much more success in Rajasthan, and we try to create
competition between the states to have the best results, by making it
an exemplary case and say, "Look at what Rajasthan has been able to
achieve, why don't you try some of this in Tamil Nadu, and look at how
Rajasthan was able to succeed."
» Moderator | Henny Sender
Why do you think that Rajasthan worked so well? What was it about?
Was it a few individuals, was it the government, or was it some private
sector organization? What made Rajasthan so successful?
» Panelist | Simon Walley
It's a mix of things. There are probably nine states in India where our
projects were particularly very effective. The big difference in Rajasthan
is the land. They're able to provide titles of the land to the banks.
» Moderator | Henny Sender
It's that infrastructure, the title, the formal property.
» Panelist | Simon Walley
Being able to access the land, even if you are poor, means that you
can use the property as collateral for lenders, on which they're able to
foreclose. That really made the difference. In addition, there are very
dynamic, very forward-thinking institutions that we had this initial pilot
with. That really made the difference.
» Moderator | Henny Sender
It's interesting because Rajasthan has relatively good roads infrastructure.
You can get affordable land and you can also get people jobs precisely,
because they have better transport than a lot of other states.
340
» Panelist | Simon Walley
Yes. Another state is Madhya Pradesh. It tends to percolate through
all aspects of governments; if they're good at something, they are likely
to have other efficient, and effective areas, such as land, transport, and
social security. Essentially, it is just a good government that creates the
right enabling environment.
» Moderator | Henny Sender
One of the lessons we might conclude from your comment seems
to be the need for flexibility. So, if we have a problem at one level, we Session II
should try another level, right? Of government.
» Panelist | Simon Walley
Yes, exactly. Like I said, I take the view to go with whatever works,
and I tend not to have theoretical models; you have to be adaptable. In
addition, be conscious of the fact that one of the difficulties with housing
finance is to take a very long-term view. It's a long-term investment; the
people in charge of it, the politicians, have a short-term view, they're
looking at the next election. So, you can't be too theoretical about
solutions or recommendations. At the same time, you need to have
things that play with the political imperatives. The balancing act can be
difficult, but that's how you get results.
» Moderator | Henny Sender
Yes, I think we struggle with both infrastructure and housing.
Politicians think in terms of election cycles but housing and
infrastructure need more long-term. I'm going to pick up on one more
point before I turn to you, Olivier, and that is your mention of jobs.
Because as we discussed over breakfast, in a country like India, it's a win-
win situation both on the supply and the demand side. In India, because
the population is so young, you have a million young people coming
on to the job markets every month. Many of those one million people
are moving to the cities. And most of them are unskilled. They are the
2019 6th AFIS & ASMMA Annual Meeting 341