Iqbal Quadir
Iqbal Quadir
Iqbal Z. Quadiris an accomplished entrepreneur and a long-time champion of the critical role of entrepreneurship and innovations in creating prosperity in low-income countries. "In 1993, before others imagined the possibility, and only one percent of Americans were using mobile phones, Quadir saw mobiles as productivity tools to lift up the poorest in the world. He worked tirelessly for over two decades to provide the poor access to mobiles and to find them other means of economic empowerment." He is...
NationalityBangladeshi
ProfessionEntrepreneur
Date of Birth13 August 1958
CityJessore District, Bangladesh
CountryBangladesh
We should encourage governments to be sustained by citizens' taxes - that is, democracies. Democracies will be enduring allies of America.
Pakistan is riddled with problems that are rooted in the disproportionate power of the state. Aid has only boosted that power.
The rapid proliferation of cell phones in Afghanistan proves that anything that adds value to people's lives spreads like brushfire - and commerce is certainly a force that could add value for Afghanis.
A military or government hierarchy is anathema to the dispersed population and diverse tribes of mountainous Afghanistan.
I'm motivated by creating a level playing field for the world so that the weak have a chance.
Rich countries have been sending aid to poor countries for the last 60 years. And, by and large, this has failed.
Barack Obama has talked a lot about changing the way America relates to the world, and few areas are as ripe for reform as our policies on foreign aid.
The best way poor people can come out of their poverty is to get on the global highway, not on some dirt side road.
The history of Europe over the last several centuries provides clear evidence of the transformative power of commerce.
When leaders are no longer beholden to the people who elected them, corruption results and the recruitment of extremists becomes easier.
During the Cold War, the U.S. instituted a policy of sending money to governments in poor countries to buy their political loyalty. While studies show that sending aid to foreign governments creates allegiance, it does not lead to economic progress.
Just as entrepreneurs developed America, they can develop other countries, too.
In America, people buy cars, and they put very little money down. They get a car, and they go to work. The work pays them a salary; the salary allows them to pay for the car over time. The car pays for itself.
A lot of technologies in the world were unusual in the beginning, and became standard. That's the beauty of bottom-up entrepreneurship and innovations.