Indian entrepreneurs, especially women entrepreneurs, are looking up to Ivanka Trump, daughter and adviser to US President Donald Trump, as she arrives in Hyderabad to join the three day 8th edition of Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) that begins Tuesday.
“Unlike in the past, we hope there will be some real boost to entrepreneurs,” Elisha B Pulivarti, a US delegate, told The Sunday Guardian. Pulivarti, president of US India SME (Small and Medium Entrepreneurs) Council (USISMEC), is one of the 200 US delegates who are in the city. He is optimistic about unprecedented flow of funds and support to start-ups and innovations that are straight out of incubation centres across the country in the coming months. “My hope is based on Ivanka’s personal attention to the summit,” he said.
Though the GES in the past was monitored by the White House under the supervision of the US President, there haven’t been considerable investments into the ventures exhibited and selected by the venture funds and private equities.
But Pulivarty and his friends who had come from the US put the proposed fund flow to entrepreneurs this time to around $10 to 12 billion as against the maximum $1.5 billion to the host nations of Istanbul or Nairobi or Kuala Lumpur GESs earlier.
The USISMEC is opening its India chapter office in Hyderabad in March to take forward the initiatives of this GES. The council is one of the many trade bodies to execute the venture funding projects clinched at the summit next week. “We hope there will be investments into defence, security equipment, aerospace, digital economy, energy, environment, food and agriculture and media,” said Pulivarti.
Another delegate Abdul Rahman Ilyas, who will be coordinating its India operations, said the future of India-US trade would be bigger than that of any other country with US. “As both countries are committed to raising the trade volumes up to $500 billion, the scope for start-ups and entrepreneurship is vast,” said Ilyas.
The Business Resource Centre @US India SME council has programmes to help emerging businesses and entrepreneurs in both the countries. “The changed rules in real estate, logistics, infrastructure, skilling, life sciences and pharmaceuticals and media and entertainment are the other areas where there is vast scope for fund flow,” said Daniel Raj Rapaka, another delegate at GES.
Rapaka, who is a director of Maryland India Business Round Table, Maryland, would be exploring funds for areas in transfer of technologies in emerging areas. “There is no dearth of entrepreneurs and talented youth in India. They have immense potential and innovative ideas. They only need support from the government and financial institutions,” said Rapaka.
Vani Kola, former CII Andhra Pradesh chapter president and Biological E chairperson from Hyderabad, is one of the speakers at the master-class sessions at GES on Wednesday. She told the media that it was heartening to see so much enthusiasm from young women entrepreneurs in India. “I am sure they have all pinned hopes on Ivanka’s stewardship,” said Kola.
Some women delegates from Afghanistan and Turkey witnessed a show on organic farming in a city hotel on Saturday.