As the curtains came down on the Eighth Global Entrepreneurship Summit, USAID administrator Mark Green said the message to back women entrepreneurship initiatives came out strongly.

Addressing newspersons, Green said this will serve as a platform to tap potential entrepreneurs and possibly identify innovations.

Green announced some new efforts such as ‘Women Connect Challenge’ aimed at bridging the gender divide; ‘Feed the Future Competition’, a $2-million commitment for the uplift and mentoring of female entrepreneurs in Africa, funding to help India combat tuberculosis (TB); and launch of USAID’s first health impact bond, aimed at improving maternal and the newborn’s health.

Green also announced the Rajasthan Development Impact Bond to be taken up in the public-private partnership mode to improve the quality of health services in private health clinics in Rajasthan.

Talking about California-based Gene Expert, Green said it is working on drug-resistant tuberculosis and will engage with the government to make India tuberculosis free by 2025.

Hosted by both the US and Indian governments with the support of the Telangana government, the 3-day event saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Advisor to US President Ivanka Trump addressing entrepreneurs, who had converged from across the world.

Katherine Hadda, Consul General for the US in Hyderabad, said about 130 US companies function in the city and they continue to play a role in promoting entrepreneurship.

The summit, whose theme was ‘Women first, prosperity for all’, had leading women speakers from top global companies sharing their experiences and insights on how to take the passion of enterprise forward.

Women from 127 countries participated, with over 10 countries represented by all-female delegations. Significantly, the youngest entrepreneur was a mere 13 years old, and the oldest, 84 years.

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