The two-day inception meeting of the Startup 20 Engagement Group, set up under India’s G20 presidency has began at Hyderabad on Saturday. G-20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant, Startup-20 Chair Chintan Vaishnav, Secretary of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Anurag Jain and G-20 Secretariat JS Asish Sinha JS were present at the meeting.
As many as 180 delegates from G-20 member countries and nine special invitee countries besides stakeholders participated in the inaugural meet of Startup 20 Engagement Group. Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal also addressed the delegates through a video message.
During the inaugural session of the meeting, Union Minister of Tourism, Culture and Development of North Eastern Region, G Kishan Reddy, said, “Today, India has 3rd highest number of startups in the world. Our youths want to become job creators instead of job holders."
Speaking about the startup ecosystem, G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant said, "Startups of today are solving problems of education, health, agricultural productivity etc for one billion people for India and also the world."
“Earlier, opening a bank a/c in India took 8-9 months whereas today, it’s possible within a minute using biometrics. Since last 4 years, we do more fast payments compared to US, Europe and China,” he added.
The new Engagement Group - Startup20, which was established as part of India's G20 Presidency, aspires to create a global narrative for supporting startups and enabling synergies between startups, corporates, investors, innovation agencies and other key ecosystem stakeholders, an official release said.
The purpose of this group is to provide a common platform for startups from G20 member countries to come together to develop actionable guidance in the form of building of enabler’s capacities, identification of funding gaps, enhancement of employment opportunities, achievement of SDG targets and climate resilience, and growth of an inclusive ecosystem, it said.
(With inputs from agencies)
ALSO READ | G20 summit an opportunity for India to become 'Vishwa Guru', says Delhi LG
