Changing-Bangladesh

Colonization and natural disasters have wrought havoc upon Bangladesh, but Henry Kissinger and George Harrison, quips Iqbal Quadir of Lexington, did the most damage to the country of his birth.

The former US secretary of state's infamous description of the South Asian nation as an "international basket case" and the former Beatle's legendary Concert for Bangladesh in 1971 saddled the war- and flood-ravaged land with an unshakable reputation as hapless and dependent on handouts for survival.

"That has been very damaging to us," said Quadir, who is the executive director of MIT's Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship. "Because the country is a so-called basket case, investment never came to us."

Quadir, 49, doesn't dispute that Bangladesh has its troubles but rejects the notion that Bangladeshis need to be rescued by rich countries. On the contrary, said Quadir, Bangladeshis are as innovative and hard-working as anyone but until recently have lacked the means to unleash their entrepreneurial spirit.

He proved it with his own company, Grameenphone, which became the largest cellphone company in Bangladesh largely by selling its phones on credit to poor rural women who in turn rented phone minutes to neighbors, making money for themselves while providing a public service. "I happen to be Bangladeshi, which is why I had some emotional reason to think about it seriously." he said.

> A bottom-up plan to turn Bangladesh's economy upside-down