Gates slams US' tighter immigration

Bill Gates has called for the relaxation of US visa restrictions in order to boost the number of foreign tech students in the country.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Gates said that the US' stringent visa rules are having a negative effect on its competitiveness in the global software market.

According to Gates, the US' restricted ability to brain-drain foreign countries for computer science students is a "disaster" and the country's status as "IQ magnet of the world" was threatened, the Financial Times reports.

Gates in particular put the boot into the legislation that has made it harder for Asian students to visit the US post-September 11.

"There has been a 35 per cent drop in Asians coming to our computer science departments... It really is a very bad thing for a very key area," the FT quotes Gates as saying.

He also highlighted the sharp parallels between the US and other developing economies in key areas of study - the US currently has four per cent of those enrolled in universities studying engineering, while in India and China, that number is closer to 40 per cent, he said.

He also said in his speech that he expected the US dollar to continue to fall.