GES to kick of tomorrow, women prosperity in focus

Hyderabad, Nov 27 () The city is all set to host the eighth edition of the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES), which will be inaugurated by Prime Minster Narendra Modi tomorrow. Union ministers Sushma Swaraj, Nirmala Sitharaman and Suresh Prabhu will be attending the summit, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant today told reporters here at a joint press conference with US Ambassador to India Kenneth Juster. After the inauguration, US President Donald Trump's daughter and advisor Ivanka Trump and Indian Defence Minister Sitharaman will be participating in a panel discussion on opening up of opportunities for women entrepreneurs, Kant said. The discussion will be moderated by John Chambers,Chairman Emeritus CISCO, he said.Ivanka will lead a delegation from the US at the three-day event.The closing session of the GES will bring together keyinfluencers who support, promote and fund women entrepreneurs,Kant said.The closing session will be moderated by CommerceMinister Suresh Prabhu, he said.External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will alsoparticipate in the GES, he said.More than 10 countries, including Afghanistan, SaudiArabia and Israel, will be represented by their all-womendelegation at the summit, Kant said.With the theme of 'Women First, Prosperity for All', thiswill be the first GES in which women are expected to bemajority (52.5 per cent) of the participants, he said.The theme of this year's summit demonstrates thecommitment of the US and the Indian governments to theprinciple that when women are economically empowered, theircommunities and countries thrive, he said."Women entrepreneurs help drive innovation and jobcreation as well as address the world's greatest and mostcritical challenges," Kant said.Replying to a query, Juster lauded Modi for the recentWorld Bank's ranking of India on the ease of doing businessindex."The important point is that the economic reform processwill obviously increase US investments (in India)," he said.He however said the investment decisions are madeby the private sector and are driven by market forces.On the GES, Juster said both India and the US focus oninnovation and events like this will boost the process furtherin this regard.Refusing to speak on the recent H1B visa issue in the US,Juster said his country is doing a comprehensive review of thevisa policy, which is yet to be announced.He however said the visa policy is not specific to anycountry and is aimed at attracting talent and innovation tothe US.The three-day GES will be held at the HyderabadInternational Convention Centre. GDK GKANU