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MOST governments say they want to encourage entrepreneurs. Yet when foreigners with ideas come knocking, they slamdoors in their faces. America, surprisingly, is one of the worst offenders. It has no specific visafor foreigners who wish to create new companies. It does offer a visa for investors, but the requirements are so stiff—usually an initial investment of $1m—that the annual quotaof 10,000 visas is seldom filled.
多数政府都表示他们鼓励企业家过来投资。但当心怀梦想的外国企业家真的上门时，这些国家又关闭了大门。令人吃惊的是，美国是这些抵触外商情绪最严重的国家之一。对于那些想创业的外国企业家，美国并没有设立特殊签证。美国不拒绝给予外商签证，但要求却刻板得可以——他们往往会要求投资者的初始资金要达到1百万美金，这样做的后果就是，每年的签证数很少能达到1万张的配额。
Other countries are more open. Singapore offers visas to people who invest $40,000; for some, the government provides additional investment. Britain gives visas to entrepreneurs who meet certain conditions and attract ￡50,000 ($77,000) of venture funding. New Zealand has no specific capital requirement but offers residencyto entrepreneurs whose firms are deemedto benefit the country. Chile is wildly generous: its government gives selected start-ups $40,000 without taking any equityin return. All these schemeshave been introduced or expanded since 2008.
其他国家则相对比较开放。新加坡对于能提供4万美金的投资者提供签证，对于一些投资者，政府还提供额外的投资。英国，符合特定条件和能吸引5万英镑（即7万7千美金）的风险投资的企业家都能得到签证。新西兰对资金没什么要求，但提供住宿给那些有潜力为国家创收的人。智利就更慷慨了：政府挑选有潜力的投资者，为他们提供4万美金启动资金，而且不需同等回报。以上国家的政策从2008年开始引进和扩张。
Where an entrepreneurial visa is not available, other routes may be. Australia and Canada use a points system that emphasises youth and skills. Since 2007 Australia has curbedthe total number of permanent-residency visas it issues, but expanded the number of visas for skilled workers and their dependents from 103,000 to 126,000 a year. That is nearly as many as America (140,000), though America’s population is 14 times larger.
有的国家没有创业签证，他们则采用其他方式。澳大利亚和加拿大有一套针对年轻创业者和有技术创业者的积分系统。从2007年开始，澳大利亚就限制永久居住的签证数量，但是加大了针对技术人员和他们家人的签证数量，数量从10万3千增长到12万6千。这个数目几乎接近美国14万的数目了，尽管美国的人口数量是澳大利亚的14倍。
A similar side door let Mohamed Alborno into Canada. The young Egyptian-born entrepreneur incorporated his company, Crowdsway, in Delaware. He had done well in a contest for buddingentrepreneurs. But getting a visa to live in America is slow, confusing and unpredictable. In the end he went to Canada instead, where setting up a company is just as easy as in America, but the visa process is much more straightforward. He now says he is very happy to have settled in Vancouver. His firm has just launched a beta service.
加拿大也有和澳大利亚类似的政策，默罕默德·阿尔波诺正是受益于此。这位在埃及出生的企业家在美国特拉华州合并了自己的公司Crowdsway。在企业萌芽阶段，他的事业进行得很顺利。但在美国办居住签证速度慢，程序混乱，结果未知。最终，他选择去加拿大，在加拿大建立一家公司和美国一样容易，但签证程序却要简单得多。现在他表示很开心在温哥华定居，公司刚推出了一项测试版业务。
America’s scorn for skills is extraordinary. The share of permanent visas granted for economic reasons fell from 18% to 13% between 1991 and 2011. In Canada it rose from 18% to 67%. This warns that America is “falling behind in the global race for talent.” China, meanwhile, offers some highly skilled returners not only free homes but also cash to buy furniture.
美国歧视技术人员的现象超乎寻常。为经济投资颁发的永久签证的份额从1991年的18%下降到了2011年的13%。而在加拿大，这个数字则从18%上升到了67%。如此的现象警示美国其“吸引技术人员落后于全球”。同时，中国对于一些技术过硬的回归投资者，不但给予免费的房子，而且提供资金添置家具。 |
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发表于 2016-7-11 09:54:34