Empower women for India's growth: Amitabh Kant

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], Nov 27 (ANI): Speaking a day ahead of the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) that begins here on Tuesday, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant called for providing greater impetus to women entrepreneurs, as this would be critical for India's growth.

"The summit comes at a time when the government is working on several initiatives to empower women in India, such as Beti Bachao Beti Padhao and others. This summit will witness women taking center stage in all fronts, ncluding panel discussions. This summit has a majority of women participation (52.5percent), with over ten countries being led by all-women delegation," Kant said at a joint press conference with U.S. Ambassador to India Kenneth Juster.

The summit is being hosted for the first time in South East Asia by the Governments of India and the United States. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the event that will be attended by U.S. President Donald Trump's daughter and his advisor Ivanka Trump.

With the theme of "Women First, Prosperity for All," a number of leading female voices will speak at various plenaries, breakout sessions, master classes, and workshops, including tennis champion Sania Mirza, Google's Vice President of Next Billion Users Diana Louise Patricia Layfield and CEO of Afghan Citadel Software Company Roya Mahboob.

This year's summit theme demonstrates the commitment of both Washington and New Delhi to empowering women in the belief that communities and countries thrive as a result, Kant said.

He further opined that women entrepreneurs help drive innovation and job creation, besides assisting in addressing the world's most critical challenges.

The inaugural session will be addressed by Prime Minister Modi, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and Ivanka Trump.

Following this, a session will be moderated by John Chambers, Chairman Emeritus, Cisco. This will see the participation of Ivanka Trump, Sibongile Sambo, Managing Director of SRS Aviation and SRS Petroleum and Marcus Wallenberg, the Chairman of Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken (SEB).

Ivanka Trump will also be part of a discussion on increasing women in the workforce through skills training, education, and mentorship on the second day. Innovators in workforce development and training will discuss what works and what more can be done to open doors for women at the workplace.

The closing session of GES will bring together key influencers that support, promote and fund women entrepreneurs.

Panelists will share efforts to advance women in leadership positions and ensure that women have "seats at the table" while breaking down the barriers that disproportionately affect women's ability to start and grow businesses.

It will also feature a panel discussion themed "Women Win, We All Win: Promoting Inclusive Environments for Women Entrepreneurs", which will be moderated by Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu.

The GES has introduced a mobile application to enable seamless networking among all registered delegates. A wearable device interlinked with the application is also being provided to all delegates for use during and after the summit.

So far, 1500 delegates have downloaded the app, 20,000 profiles have been viewed, 4,000 messages and 6,000 business cards have been exchanged and 500 meetings have already been set up.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will also attend the summit, Kant said. (ANI)