"The next great success will come from Asia", said Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said here Saturday.

Sixty percent of the people in the United States said the next success would come from Asia, Gates said, citing a survey done in the United States on "where will the next big success and where the next Bill Gates come from".

That's true as it's well recognized that the investment and changes here are leading to very innovative work, said Gates at the annual session of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), which opened Saturday in the southern China town of Boao.

According to him, Microsoft established its first research center in Asia about 10 years ago and currently is spending 60 percent of its research and development budget in Asia.

The quality of job by Microsoft's development centers in Asia is among the best in the world, he added.

Gates said he was surprised that Thomas Friedman's book, The World Is Flat, is not only popular in the United States but also in countries throughout Asia, and it's a biggest seller in China.

According to him, Friedman has done a good job in explaining how two amazing things come together. One is the economic development in Asia, particularly the investment in education; and the other is the advances in technology, particularly the rivalry on the Internet.

He said the opportunity that a person has used to be largely determined by the country they were living in, but now the opportunity is much more determined by the level of education that they received.

"And so not only is Asia benefiting from the uses of new technology, Asia will increasingly be the source of advances in technology," said Gates.

Gates arrived in Beijing Thursday for his 10th visit to China, during which he met with Chinese Vice-Premier Wu Yi and visited the prestigious Beijing University and Qinghua University in Beijing.

Established in 2001, the Boao Forum for Asia has become the premier platform for discussions about economic development in the world's largest continent.

This year's BFA annual conference attracted more than 1,400 most influential politicians, business leaders and intellectuals from Asia and around the globe.

(Xinhua News Agency April 21, 2007)