Union Minister of Trade and Industry Piyush Goyal on Saturday called for the creation of an international network of mentors, investors and entrepreneurs to strengthen the global startup ecosystem.
In a video address to the Inception Meeting of the G20 Start-up 20 Engagement Group here, he said that this network should support and inspire start-ups, act as a team to facilitate the exchange of ideas, best practices and funding mechanisms and promote collaborations in research and development.
He said it is not just the role of individual countries to support innovation and added that it will have to be the collective responsibility of the world nations to nurture a global effort to build startup ecosystems in all parts of the world. incubate.
This creates a global startup ecosystem that is inclusive, supportive and sustainable to address global challenges. Goyal said India was proud to highlight the progress and potential of the global startup ecosystem as the host country of the G20.
He noted that the Startup20 Group was first established under India’s G20 Presidency as part of India’s special focus on innovation. Perceiving that innovation would be the strongest pillar that would help build a developed India in the ‘Amritcal‘, he said that innovation has been a catalyst for the economy and social and public welfare. “Innovation in today’s world goes beyond meeting mere economic goals, it also considers social inclusion and environmental sustainability,” he added.
He said India had started its startup journey with the foundation laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2016 with the launch of the Start-up India Initiative.
Over the past seven years, it has helped foster entrepreneurship and promote ever-newer ideas, helping startups grow by creating an ecosystem conducive to growth, according to an official release. The capabilities of our start-ups in various areas, including energy, financial inclusion, fighting the COVID-19 pandemic when remote healthcare and food delivery became very important, have helped us overcome a number of challenges, he said.
Noting that the world is facing a multitude of global challenges, from climate change to poverty and inequality, Goyal expressed a belief that innovation can take the lead in solving these problems. He said that in the Indian start-up context, the entrepreneurs use their creativity and ingenuity to meet these challenges. He cited the examples of digital public goods such as Cowin and UPI as a means to address issues and ensure inclusive growth in India. He also highlighted that India had climbed to 40th place in WIPO’s Global Innovation Index (GII), with a huge jump of 41 places in seven years.
He gave the mantra of ‘SENSE’ – Share, Explore, Nurture, Serve and Empower for the growth of start-ups. He expressed confidence that the discussions at the Hyderabad meeting would lay the groundwork for strong, actionable recommendations for G20 leaders to deliberate and spark a global start-up revolution, making a difference to the future of startups around the world. .
The Startup 20 Engagement Group was established under India’s G20 Presidency. Union Minister G Kishan Reddy, Union Trade Minister Som Parkash, G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant, NITI Aayog CEO Parameswaran Iyer attended the inaugural session.
G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant later told reporters that whatever the Startup20 decides will be a very important part of the final communiqué.
Anurag Jain, secretary of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade said that since the launch of the startup initiative in January 2016, the Indian ecosystem has grown to become the third largest startup ecosystem in the world in terms of unicorns .
Importantly, the addition of new unicorns is the second highest, and the addition of the new start-ups is the highest, he said.
Startup20 has three different tracks, namely foundation and alliance, finance and inclusivity and sustainability.
After the Inception meeting in Hyderabad, there will be three track meetings in Sikkim, Andaman and Nicobar and Bengaluru. The summit meeting was to be held in Gurugram.
“This is the global plan. Hopefully we can come up with something that can create a framework for driving the global ecosystem to find solutions to the global problems,” he said.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and was published from a syndicated news agency feed)
