US Consulate meet spotlights challenges, opportunities for entrepreneurs

Weeks ahead of the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) scheduled between November 28 and 30, 2017 at Hyderabad, Lauren Lovelace, Consul for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs at the US Consulate in Chennai, met up with some young entrepreneurs, start-up founders and aspirants here to seek their views on the challenges and opportunities for entrepreneurs.

The round-table discussion held late on Wednesday evening at the PSG Institute of Management, with Lovelace as the moderator, is understood to be just the beginning of a slate of events planned by the US Mission in India ahead of GES.

About 20 to 25 young entrepreneurs, including women and other stakeholders in Coimbatore's entrepreneurial ecosystem, took part in the discussion.

“The theme of this year's GES is 'Women First, Prosperity for All,' said Lovelace, underscoring the crucial role of women in economic upliftment and nation-building.

India and the US will co-host GES 2017, she said, and pointed out that Ivanka Trump, Senior Advisor to the US President, would lead the US delegation.

Over 1,600 delegates from over 160 countries are expected to attend the event. This was Lovelace's maiden visit to this entrepreneurial hub.

While hailing the commitment of the entrepreneurial community to innovation and growth of the region, she said “most entrepreneurs that I caught up with over the last two days said they had difficulty in access to market/ capital, notwithstanding connectivity issues and infrastructure bottlenecks, as cities grew in size. Such issues would be taken up during the summit, which would largely focus on the potential women can bring to entrepreneurship.”