1,500 delegates to participate in Global Entrepreneurship Summit

US President's daughter Ivanka Trump.

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SME Times News Bureau | 17 Aug, 2017
Around 1,500 delegates from over 160 countries will participate in the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) to be held in Hyderabad from November 28-30, that will see the US President's daughter Ivanka Trump leading her country's delegation, an official said here on Thursday.

The event will see 400 entrepreneurs from India, 400 from the US and 400 from the rest of the world and a total of 300 investors.

"The process of selecting the entrepreneurs and the investors is going on," the official said, adding that emphasis will be on start-ups.

After elevating innovation and entrepreneurship in the US engagement agenda, then US President Barack Obama held the first GES at the White House in 2010.

Since then, this event has been hosted by Kenya, Morocco, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia and has emerged as the preeminent gathering of emerging entrepreneurs, investors and business leaders from around the worlds.

Last year, it was held in Silicon Valley in the US and was attended by around 1,500 delegates from 160 countries.

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Washington in June last year, he and Obama announced that the 2017 GES would be held in India.

"Hyderabad has been chosen as the venue because it is considered a tech hub and has good infrastructure," the US official said. "The US also has a consulate in that city and that makes it easier."

The official said that one of the reasons for choosing India as the host of the event this year is Prime Minister Modi's push for digitisation.

"The intention is to have a critical mass of people and develop entrepreneurship," he said.

Niti Aayog is the lead Indian agency in holding the event in partnership with the state government of Telangana.

This year, the theme is "Women first, prosperity for all" and the focus will be on four key areas: energy and infrastructure; health care and life sciences; financial technology and digital economy; and media and entertainment.

"Many US companies have ties in India and see strong growth prospects here," the US official said. "Ties between Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Silicon Valley are very strong."

US President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka will lead the US delegation and is expected to speak on the first day which will see high-level government participation from the Indian side.

According to the official, a number of side events will also be hosted by various chambers of commerce.

"We will have a team from Washington coming in September to examine the preparations for the event," he added.