Bill Gates Tours South Asia

Microsoft Corp. chairman Bill Gates and his wife Melinda made a stop in the Bangladesh capital Monday, on his first trip to the South Asian nation.

While he was in Dhaka, he met with Bangladesh's Prime Minister Khaleda Zia.

Gates was reported saying that he was "pleased to see such progress to bridge the digital divide and grow the software industry in an emerging market like Bangladesh… The results ... can only come through strong partnership between the industry and the government."

This is part of Mr. Gates' larger aim when he plans a four day visit to India on Tuesday.

Ravi Venkatesan, the head of Microsoft's India division, said that Gates plans to focus "on realizing India's potential" during his visit. Microsoft has seen the potential of India's market of one billion people and will now see how the company can fully benefit by further involvement.

Gates will meet with senior officials as well as programmers and business leaders to outline Microsoft's long-announced plans to invest $400 million in India in the following years. India is also known for taking huge chunks of the tech market away from the U.S.