US President Donald Trump administration extols GES 2017

The United States has underlined several initiatives taken by President Donald Trump to promote both American and Global entrepreneurship that fall in line with the Global Entrepreneurship Summit's (GES) mission, that America is co-hosting with India.

A statement from the White House extolled the GES 2017 and Ivanka Trump's leadership.

"Advisor to the President Ivanka Trump is leading a contingent from the United States to the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) in Hyderabad, India. This year, more than 350 entrepreneurs from the United States are attending the GES.

The Summit's theme, "Women First, Prosperity for All," reflects that for the first time ever, the majority of United States and global attendees will be women entrepreneurs, a particular point of pride for Advisor Trump," it said.

"This year's GES is focussed on four key industry sectors: Energy and infrastructure, healthcare and life sciences, financial technology and digital economy, and media and entertainment.

GES 2017 brings together emerging innovators from 150 countries and empowers women entrepreneurs in particular to take their ideas forward, and create new jobs and technologies that will benefit the United States and the globe," it added.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), through the US Government's 'Feed the Future' programme, will launch a global competition in January 2018 for women-led enterprises to access investment and other business services to take their food businesses to the next level, the statement said.

'Feed the Future' will also work with American food companies to mentor women entrepreneurs in Africa who seek to build their expertise, optimise business operations, and scale up their companies. USAID's initial contribution of 2 million USD will leverage contributions from the business community.

Building on existing and previous programmes, USAID and partners are launching the WomenConnect Challenge to support comprehensive approaches to closing the digital gender divide, the statement added.

The United States, in partnership with the World Bank, has also launched the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) at the 2017 G20 Leaders' Summit along with 12 other countries. We-Fi has already raised more than 340 million USD in commitments.

America's Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) works alongside the private sector to provide access to finance and services and to mobilize capital supporting business development. In the last five years, OPIC provided loans to 3.7 million women. This includes a 225 million USD loan to IndusInd Bank, which lends to 3,000 micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises and serves 1.3 million women entrepreneurs in India.

"U.S. Embassies and Consulates support entrepreneurs by advocating for improvements to business climates and by hosting hundreds of public events around the world each year from setting up mentoring connections, to hosting workshops on angel investing, crowdfunding, or business incubation," the statement added.

The Trump administration has also created conditions that support small businesses, innovation, and entrepreneurs in the country.

In February, the President Trump signed into law the INSPIRE Women Act (H.R. 321) and the Promoting Women in Entrepreneurship Act (H.R. 255) to promote women entering and leading the STEM fields - science, technology, engineering, and math - and preserve America as an innovation hub for generations to come.

"The Small Business Administration (SBA) is focussed on using privately raised capital and SBA-guaranteed leverage, stimulating technological innovation through small businesses, and supporting parts of the country where there are gaps in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. SBA's microloan program provides loans up to 50,000 USD and technical assistance for small businesses and not-for-profit childcare centres," the statement stated.

The Small Business Technology Transfer is a programme that extends funding opportunities of 295 million USD annually to forge public-private partnerships that can help commercialize U.S. Federal research and development.

The US Department of Commerce's Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship fosters the commercialisation of new technologies, products, processes, and services.

In preparation for the 2017 Global Entrepreneurship Summit, cities around America had also held thematic events to promote entrepreneurship and innovation. These include - Technologies for the Smart City in Pittsburgh, Investment in Energy and Infrastructure in Houston, MSME Value in Global Supply Chain in Milwaukee, and Entrepreneurship Policy in Washington DC.

The summit was held in Hyderabad from 28 to 30 November, centered on the theme, "Women First, Prosperity for All".

Over 1600 delegates, including entrepreneurs and investors, from 160 countries participated in the three-day-summit. 

-ANI