Bangladesh, Aug. 5 -- For many foreigners Bangladesh is an admirable country for its rich culture and hospitality, but for Mitsuru Izumo it was the country where he discovered the mission of his life.

Advertisement When he arrived in Bangladesh as a first-year student of the University of Tokyo in 1998, Mitsuru Izumo, later the Founder and President of Euglena Co Ltd, did not have any clue that this trip would become one of the most successful stories of the Japanese biotech industry. What he observed was not only poverty but something else, which traditional views cannot describe accurately.

"In my perception, poverty means hunger," Izumo said in an interview with The Financial Express's Leadership Lens programme. "When I visited Bang...