Almost no poor countries by 2035
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READING:
Microsoft founder Bill Gates has said that by 2035, there will be almost no poor countries. Today, the World Bank says there are 35 poor countries. Most people who live in them are on low or no incomes. Gates said that nearly all these countries will be richer in the next 20 years. All nations in South America, Asia, and Central America (but possibly not Haiti), and most in Africa will become "middle-income nations". He added that when he was born, most countries in the world were poor. He thinks that in the next two decades, most of these countries will be richer.
Mr Gates said some countries will still be poor. These are North Korea, Haiti and some central African nations. The good news is that: "Nearly 90% will have a higher income than India does today." He believes countries will copy their richer neighbours. Countries will have new medicines, better seeds and more people will have the Internet. Gates said China, India, Brazil and Botswana were poor thirty years ago but are now growing quickly. He said there was still a lot of work to do. More than one billion people are very, very poor, so "it's not time to celebrate".
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