Hyderabad is hosting 8th Global Entrepreneurship Summit between 28-30 November 2017. This year is the first time it is being hosted in South Asia since its inception in 2010. NITI Aayog, in the partnership with the Government of the United States of America will host the annual Summit. The Summit will be addressed by The Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi. The US delegation will be led by Ms. Ivanka Trump, Advisor to President Trump. Around 1500 entrepreneurs across the globe are selected for attending this Summit.
Since the inception of GES in 2010, it has traveled across the world from Washington D.C. to Istanbul, Dubai, Marrakech, Nairobi, Kuala Lumpur, Silicon Valley, and now finally Hyderabad! The event will highlight India’s enabling environment for innovation and entrepreneurship – including actions by the government to increase the ease of doing business, eliminating unnecessary regulations, and supporting startups.
Hyderabad, the capital of Telangana state, has a strong presence of major U.S. tech firms, a robust startup ecosystem, premier academic institutions, top-notch talent, and supportive government policies in place., Hyderabad, also home to T-Hub – India’s largest startup incubator, has all the ingredients to be India’s next startup capital.
The theme of the event is “Women First, Prosperity for All”. Ivanka Trump addressed first and gave the theme its rightful meaning. She said, “I am proud that for the first time ever, women make up the majority of the 1,500 entrepreneurs selected to attend.”
“As a former entrepreneur, employer, and executive in a male-dominated industry, I have seen firsthand all too often that women must do more than their male counterparts to prove themselves at work, while also disproportionately caring for their families at home.”
Ivanka stressed on how significant it had been in the past few years for women to be part of the entrepreneurial drive the world had witnessed. She added, “Fueling the growth of women-led businesses isn’t simply good for our society — it’s good for our economy. One study estimates that closing the gender entrepreneurship gap worldwide could grow our global GDP by as much as 2 per cent.”
“Just consider, if India closes the labor force gender gap by half, your economy could grow by over $150 billion in the next three years,” she said.
Ivanka highlighted the difference between women entrepreneurs in the US and developing nations. “In the United States, within the last decade, the number of women-owned firms has grown by 45 per cent. Even more promising, minority women have started nearly 8 in 10 new women-owned businesses.”
“Today, more than 11 million women in the United States own businesses. They employ nearly 9 million workers, and generate over $1 trillion dollars in revenue.”
“However, in developing countries, 70 per cent of women-owned small and medium-sized businesses are denied access to capital. The result has been a nearly $300 billion annual credit deficit for women entrepreneurs in the developing world. In some countries, women are not allowed to own property, travel freely, or work without the consent of their husbands.”
After her speech, PM Narendra Modi took the stage and addressed the Summit. He talked about Goddess Shakti, warrior queens like Rani Lakshmibai, astronauts Sunita Williams and Kalpana Chawla, and sportswomen Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu to connect the dots of the incredible journey Inidian women have charted through the ages in different walks of life. Modi said, “Our space programmes, including the Mars Orbiter Mission, have had an immense contribution from our women scientists. Kalpana Chawla and Sunita Williams, both of Indian origin, have been part of US space missions.
“Three out of four oldest High Courts in India are now headed by women judges. Our sportswomen have done the country proud. Our milk co-operatives in Gujarat and the Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat Papad, are examples of highly successful and globally acclaimed women-led co-operative movements.”
Narendra Modi later invited international entrepreneurs to ‘Come, Make in India, Invest in India’ Modi highlighted his New India Vision and said, “To my young entrepreneur from India, I would like to say: each of you has something valuable to contribute towards creating a New India by 2022. You are vehicles of change and instruments of India’s transformation.”
Today, in the morning, Telangana IT Minister K.T. Rama Rao moderated a discussion on ‘We can do it — Innovation in Work Force Development and Skills Training’ on boosting women’s participation in the workforce. The speakers were Ivanka Trump, Cherie Blair, Chanda Kochchar and Karen Quintos. Ivanka Trump highlighted the importance of public policy to support women entrepreneurs. Cherie Blair of the Foundation for Women pointed out that capacity, confidence, capital are the three things women entrepreneurs need to flourish. Chanda Kochchar, CEO of ICICI Bank, highlighted the outcomes of ICICI’s training initiative and stated the fact that among the 100,000 beneficiaries of the initiative, 55% were women. She also pointed out that India is the only country where 40% of the banking sector is headed by women. Karen Quintos, CCO of Dell EMC, spoke on the biases that exist in the society and had to be addressed.
In the afternoon, Cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle moderated panelists who spoke about sports tech startups. Panelists composed of P. Gopichand, Sania Mirza, Chatri, Sityondtong and Mithali Raj. Chief National Coach of Indian Badminton team, P. Gopichand said that sports is beyond winning and everyone who plays the sport is a champion. Tennis Star, Sania Mirza, said that sports don’t need films to popularize sports; we need to love sports for India to become a sporting nation. Chatri Sityodtong, ONE Championship, Chairman and CEO, quoted the fact that storytelling is everything in sports. In the end, Mithali Raj, Indian Women’s Cricket Team Captain, pointed out the need for good infrastructure and facilities so that girls can channel their sporting abilities.
The event will certainly help entrepreneurs to showcase and bring their product to the world stage. The event will also improve India’s reputation as the innovation-friendly country and will help startups to get funded and recognized worldwide.