Bill Gates: There will be almost no poor countries by 2035

London, Jan 22: According to the world's richest man, Bill Gates' predictions, 'there will be almost no poor countries by 2035 and child mortality rates in the poorest nations will plummet to the same levels as in the US and UK in 1980.'

Bill Gates made these predictions in the Gates Foundation's annual letter [read here].

Gates, in an interview to Forbes Magazine said that that soon there will be a point where 'you'll have to give a reason why a country is poor.' "Poor countries are not doomed to stay poor. I am optimistic enough about this that I am willing to make a prediction. By 2035 there will be alomst no poor countries in the world," he said.

Speaking about foreign aid being termed as a waste of money gates said that this was used as an excuse by political leaders. "Foreign aid saves and improves lives very effectively laying the ground work for long term economic progress," he said.

Finally Melinda Gates, Bill Gates' wife said that a popular notion that saving kids leads to over population was a myth. "In fact it is opposite. When children survive in greater numbers, parents decide to have smaller families," Melinda said.

OneIndia News