by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, Economy, Investing, Large Enterprise, News
Narendra Modi and Ivana Trump
By Aroonim Bhuyan,
New Delhi : Representatives of around 45 American companies met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at this year’s Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) in Hyderabad and expressed their commitment to continue investing in India, a top Indian American business leader has said.
These representatives were part of a delegation of the US India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF), a newly set-up non-profit organisation focused on deepening business relations between the US and India and enhancing the strategic relationship between the two countries.
“I can’t talk about the specifics (of the meeting with Modi) because it was off the record. But basically the companies did meet with the Prime Minister and they showed their commitment to continued investment into India,” USISPF President Mukesh Aghi told IANS in an interview.
The US looks at building its relationship with India on two broad principles. “One principle is that economic prosperity of India is good for America. And the second principle is a militarily strong India is good for regional stability,” Aghi said.
If India became economically more prosperous and there was more disposable income, people would tend to buy more US goods, or send more of their kids for education to the US, he said.
“If you look at this year, the enrollment of Indian students in the US went up by 12 per cent. So we have 186,000 Indian students in the US,” he stated.
“That’s one. Two, if you look at companies like Amazon, look at Uber, look at WhatsApp or Google, you know they have a tremendous market share in the Indian market. Their businesses grow because consumer spending is growing in India because of economic prosperity.”
On the defence side, Aghi said that if India became more prosperous, it would spend more money on defence.
“If you look at the last three years, the procurement with India has gone up to $15 billion,” he said.
“We are talking Make in India also from the manufacturing perspective of defence equipment. So, I think those principles are driving this relationship.”
On the current business environment in India, Aghi referred to the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business rankings which saw India jumping from the 130th rank to 100th.
“When this government came in 2014, India’s ranking was 142. And now it has come to 100. I think that is a positive sign and we will keep on urging the government to go to below 50. That should be the ambition,” he stated.
About the economic reforms being undertaken by the Indian government, he said these have been certified by credit rating agency Moody’s, which has upgraded India’s sovereign rating to Baa2 from its lowest investment grade of Baa after 14 long years.
“What the government is doing is the right stuff — which seems to send a strong message to investors also. Moody’s ranking is a positive sign, very positive,” he said.
On what were the key takeaways for USISPF from this year’s GES, which was held on the theme “Women First, Priority for All”, Aghi said: “I think the number one takeaway is that start-ups and entrepreneurship are important for job creation. That’s what India needs”.
He also stressed on the involvement and engagement of women entrepreneurs and women workers for the growth of GDP and economy.
“You know, a McKinsey report shows that by 2025, if you engage more women workers, it will have an impact of $12 trillion on the global economy,” the USISPF president said.
(Aroonim Bhuyan can be contacted at aroonim.b@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business Summit, Entrepreneurship, Events, Social Round-up, Women Entrepreneur
Washington : US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a phone conversation, “expressed satisfaction” over the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) the countries co-hosted in Hyderabad late last month, according to the White House.
The US delegation to the three-day event with the theme, “Women, First Priority for All”, was headed by the President’s daughter and senior advisor, Ivanka Trump, and included representatives from 38 states.
Her participation in the summit was announced during Modi’s visit to the White House in June.
Modi attended the inauguration of the summit with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitaraman on November 28.
About 1,500 delegates including entrepreneurs, investors and eco-system supporters from 150 nations participated in the event, more than half of them women.
On Thursday, State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert told reporters the summit was “a tremendous success when we bring in 1500 entrepreneurs from around the world”.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Entrepreneurship, Women Entrepreneur
Hyderabad : TiE Global in partnership with the US Embassy on Thursday announced launch of AIRSWEE 2.0, its marquee programme for economic empowerment of women through entrepreneurship in 30 Tier 2 and 3 cities in India.
The objective of All India Road Show for Women’s Economic Empowerment through Entrepreneurship (AIRSWEE) is to educate, mentor and inspire women in smaller Indian cities to consider entrepreneurship as a viable and rewarding career path.
The announcement was made on the sidelines of Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES).
TiE Global, a not-for-profit organization with the mission of fostering entrepreneurship globally, won a grant of $125,000 from the US Department of State for its second phase. Last year, the grant was $140,000.
Seema Chaturvedi, Chairperson Project AIRSWEE, said AIRSWEE 1.0 initiated in 2016 empowered 125 women mentors from 27 cities.
Based on the significant impact created by it, TiE Global received funding support from the US Embassy to conduct mentorship based programme to scale up women entrepreneurship in India for a second year, she said.
Under Project AIRSWEE 2.0, TiE Global will host four-day workshops in cities which include Baroda, Hubli, Bhubaneshwar, Lucknow and Patna. Each workshop city will host 30 mentee participants for a total of 150 selected mentees.
TiE Global has unveiled the application at its website http://women.tie.org/mentee.php and is inviting applications from interested participants. The workshops will be free of cost for the women participants.
TiE Global is seeking to create a significant multiplier effect by creating a pay-it-forward culture by requiring each of these 150 mentees to mentor at least two mentees each. “This will create a ripple effect of at least 450 empowered women entrepreneurs,” she said.
Under the first phase, workshops were conducted in Coimbatore, Warangal, Jaipur, Nagpur and Durgapur.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business Summit, Entrepreneurship, Events, News, Women Entrepreneur
Ivanka Trump
Hyderabad : US President Donald Trump’s daughter and his advisor Ivanka Trump on Wednesday called for closing the gender gap in workforce by providing women better access to capital and ensuring better representation in high-value industries.
She underlined the need for more progressive policies to address the stagnation which set in a decade ago in closing the gender gap. She also noted that women dominate those sectors of the economy which are undervalued financially.
Ivanka Trump was speaking at a session on the second day of Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) on Wednesday.
The session on ‘We can do it! Innovations in workforce development ad skills training’ had Cherie Blair, Founder, Cherie Blair Foundation for Women; Chanda Kochhar, Managing Director and CEO, ICICI Bank and Karen Quintos, Chief Customer Officer, Dell EMC as other panelists.
Telangana’s Minister for Information Technology, Industries and Commerce K.T. Rama Rao was the moderator.
The speakers were unanimous that women need to be empowered through education, skill development and access to capital.
Ivanka Trump spoke about the inadequate representation of women in higher education fields in the US. Only 13 per cent of engineers and 20 per cent computer science professionals are women.
The White House advisor listed out the steps being taken by the Trump administration to help close the gender gap in fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). Another initiative encourages successful entrepreneurs to mentor young men and women.
Describing technology as a greater driver of entrepreneurship, she said it was reducing barriers to start business and creating flexibility. “Technology offers tremendous opportunities to women entrepreneurs,” she said.
Cherie Blair said inadequate access to capital is the biggest problem faced by women entrepreneurs. She also stressed the need for giving options to women and the support required in terms of policies and eco-system.
Chanda Kochhar was of the opinion that women should have confidence in their capabilities. She said women do not need special policies but only required to be given an opportunity to prove themselves.
She explained how ICICI Bank is helping the women workers, especially young mothers and those who need to take care of their elderly parents by allowing them to work from home.
Referring to the strides India is making in women empowerment, she said there is no other country in the world where 40 per cent of banking sector is headed by women.
Quintos said while more women were joining the workforce, the numbers were not changing fast. She believes the environment was still conducive to women.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business Summit, Entrepreneurship, Events, Investing, Social Round-up, Women Entrepreneur
Ivanka Trump
By Mohammed Shafeeq,
Hyderabad : The stage is set for the eighth Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES), beginning in this tech hub on Tuesday with focus on women entrepreneurs and all eyes on US President Donald Trump’s daughter and advisor Ivanka Trump.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with Ivanka Trump will inaugurate the three-day event themed around “Women First, Prosperity for All”.
Being held at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC) in Hitec City, the Information Technology hub, the event will bring together 1,500 emerging entrepreneurs and investors, and ecosystem supporters from 150 countries for training and mentoring sessions, networking and investment matchmaking.
The US State Department and other American agencies in partnership with NITI Aayog, India’s think tank, are organising GES, which seeks to create an environment that empowers innovators, particularly women, to take their ideas to the next level.
The 2017 event will focus on four innovative, high-growth industries — healthcare and life sciences; digital economy and financial technology; energy and infrastructure and media and entertainment.
The delegates include about 400 each from India and the US and the remaining from rest of the world.
Women will represent 52.5 per cent of the participants, the highest in GES’ history. Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and Israel are among 10 countries being represented by all-female delegations.
Ivanka Trump, who has been speaking out on the world stage about women empowerment, will be leading the US delegation.
She will speak at the GES inaugural session on Tuesday and another session on Wednesday.
Over 100 innovative start-ups, products, services and processes will be exhibited through a multi-touch interactive wall, sensor-enabled touch screens, rotoscope mural technology and physical displays.
The event consists of breakout sessions, master classes, and workshops. Three networking sessions are also planned to enhance opportunities to interact with other participants.
The prominent speakers include John Chambers, Chairman, USISPF; Cherie Blair, Founder, Cherie Blair Foundation for Women; Prem Watsa, Chairman and CEO, Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd; Marcus Wallenberg, Chairman, SEB, a Swedish financial group; Chanda Kochhar, Managing Director and CEO, ICICI Bank and Tessy Thomas, Director, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
Newly crowned Miss World Manushi Chhillar, actress Sonam Kapoor and Aditi Rao Hydari, tennis star Sania Mirza and captain of Indian women’s cricket team Mithali Raj will add glamour to the event.
GES, a personal initiative of former US President Barack Obama to bring entrepreneurs from across the globe on one platform, made a beginning in 2010 in Washington and thereafter it has been hosted by Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Morocco and Kenya.
In 2016, Silicon Valley hosted the GES. India was given opportunity to host GES during Modi’s US visit in June.
“For India, the summit holds a special place as we are more intensely focused than ever before to give entrepreneurs the opportunities and ecosystem to help them thrive,” said Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog.
GES 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 start-ups.
The choice of Hyderabad to host the event is significant as the city is a major tech hub; home to large number of US firms including giants like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Apple and Uber and a robust startup ecosystem.
Known for premier academic institutions, top-notch talent and investor-friendly policies, the city also boasts of T-Hub, India’s largest startup capital.
Telangana government has made elaborate arrangements for the prestigious event, which will also showcase the city as a fine blend of tradition and modernity.
Ivanka Trump, Modi and other delegates will be attending the dinner being hosted by the Government at Taj Falaknuma, a palace hotel in the old city on November 28.
On Wednesday, the Telangana government will be hosting a dinner at the historic Golconda Fort.
Unprecedented security arrangements have been made for the GES with the deployment of over 10,000 policemen.
In addition to the US security agencies protecting Ivanka Trump, the Special Protection Group (SPG) and other elite forces will take care of the security of the Prime Minister and other delegates.
—IANS
