"Innovation fundamentally shifts the trajectory of development," Gates, founder of the computing corporation Microsoft and co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, told the summit of the Group of 20 major advanced and emerging economies (G20) in France.
Gates' report, 'Innovation with Impact: Financing 21st Century Development', delivered to G20 leaders, was prepared at the request of Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, with the aim of suggesting creative ways to find more money for development aid.
Gates said that, despite some successes, "innovation has not played as big a role in development as it could have".
"Some innovations take hold in rich countries quickly but take decades to trickle down to poor countries. The pace of innovation specifically for the poor has been too slow. But I believe it can be sped up, and the rapidly growing countries of the G20 are especially well positioned to drive this improvement."
<link fileadmin gates_g20-report-english1.pdf>
The whole report by Bill Gates to G20 leaders here.
