US President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump will reportedly visit Hyderabad in the last week of November to attend the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES). It is scheduled to take place on November 28.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also attend the summit in Hyderabad, South Block sources told the Indian Express. The summit was started by former US President Barack Obama in 2010. This will be the eighth edition of the GES.
During his meeting with President Trump in Washington in June, PM Modi had invited Ivanka for the summit and said that the first daughter of the US had "accepted" the invite. Ivanka nodded in agreement and later also tweeted thanking PM Modi for extending an invitation to lead the US delegation at the GES.
Finer details of her visit and the summit are being worked out among concerned authorities in New Delhi, Washington and Hyderabad. Sources told the daily that the cities of New Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru were considered as venues for the summit but Hyderabad was chosen due to its international clientele and infrastructure for hosting such large conferences.
The central government has given NITI Aayog the responsibility to organise the summit, which is being held in India for the first time, in coordination with the Ministry of External Affairs and the Andhra Pradesh government.
Sources told the Indian Express that entrepreneurs involved in Startup India, the country's own startup and entrepreneurship programme, will also take part in the summit, in which one of the main areas of focus will be women entrepreneurs.
What is Global Entrepreneurship Summit?
The GES aims to showcase inspiring entrepreneurs and investors from around the world creating new opportunities for investment, partnership, and collaboration; connect American entrepreneurs and investors with international counterparts to form lasting relationships; and highlight entrepreneurship as means to address some of the most intractable global challenges.
The summit includes several workshops, ignite talks, pitch competitions, mentoring and networking sessions aimed to give participants tailored opportunities to gain skill and relationships that will help their ventures grow. There are also demonstration areas and experiential learning exhibitions to create opportunities for participants to connect with industry experts, it says on its website.
The summit was first held in Washington DC in 2010. Since then, it has been hosted in Istanbul, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, Marrakesh, Nairobi, and Silicon Valley. Entrepreneurs from across the world — then Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, Airbnb co-founder Brian Chesky, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg — have participated in the event since 2010.
In a joint statement issued during Modi's visit to the US in June, it was announced that India would host the eighth edition of the GES.
"Recognising the importance of fostering an enabling environment for innovation and empowering entrepreneurs, the United States welcomes India's hosting of the 2017 Global Entrepreneurship Summit," the statement had said.
