Ivanka Trump to lead US team for entrepreneurship summit

The upcoming 3-day Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Hyderabad, likely to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is billed as "a big event", with presence of US President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump.  

Business leaders from across the globe, along with entrepreneurs and investors, will be in attendance.

India and the US will co-host the three-day event. The American delegation will be led by Ivanka.

A US official here confirmed that the "big event" is slated for November 28 with "high-level" participation from the government of India, but refused to confirm Modi's participation, saying a formal announcement is yet to be made to this effect.  

Sources, however, said the prime minister is likely to attend the high-profile event.

"Look forward to Ivanka Trump's presence at GES 2017 Hyderabad as the leader of the US delegation," Modi had said in a tweet last week. He said the event is aimed to bring together entrepreneurs of the two countries.  
 
"Honoured to lead the US delegation to GES2017 in India and meet with Prime Minister Modi and passionate entrepreneurs from around the globe!" Ivanka had tweeted.  
 
The theme of the summit is 'Women First, Prosperity for All', highlighting the critical role women play in fostering global growth and prosperity.

"We hope to have women represent at least 50 per cent of entrepreneurs and investors," the US official said.  
 
The focus sectors of the GES include energy and infrastructure; healthcare and life sciences; financial technology in digital economy; media and entrepreneurship and possibly, agriculture and agricultural entrepreneurship.  
 
"The GES will showcase how the US and India are increasingly beginning to converge on different aspects," the US official said, adding that the bilateral ties are doing quite well. The summit is also a chance to reinforce our increasing cooperation on entrepreneurship and technology," he said.

Other than the US, the GES had been held earlier in Morocco, Kenya, the UAE, Malaysia and Turkey. This is for the first time that the event is being held in India. 
 
Corporate giants, including Microsoft, Facebook, Apple, Cisco and Google, had participated in the previous summit, said the US official, adding that a similar representation is expected this year as well.  
 
"This is the new (US) administration. In the last GES, President (Barack) Obama showed up, but this time it looks like it will not be President Trump attending, so he has decided that his daughter Ivanka Trump will lead the US delegation," said the official.  
 
Besides, the official added, the two countries are working out the nitty gritties of holding the US- India Strategic and Commercial Dialogue.