New Delhi: Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal has called for the creation of an international network of mentors, investors and entrepreneurs to strengthen the global startup ecosystem.
Addressing the Inception Meeting of the Startup 20 Engagement Group of G20, he said that this network must support and inspire startups and act as a team to facilitate the exchange of ideas, best practices and funding mechanisms and promote collaborations in Research and Development.
Moreover, he said that supporting innovation should become the collective responsibility of world nations to nurture a global effort to incubate startup ecosystems in all parts of the world, thus creating a global startup ecosystem that is inclusive, supportive and sustainable to address global challenges.
The Startup20 Group had been established under India’s G20 Presidency for the first time, as part of India’s special focus on innovation.
Notably, Goyal said that the world is facing some major global challenges, from climate change to poverty and inequality. He expressed his firm belief that innovation can lead the way in solving these problems.
The Minister said that in the Indian startup context, the country’s entrepreneurs are using their creativity and ingenuity to tackle these challenges head-on.
He also cited the examples of digital public goods like Cowin, UPI and ONDC as means to tackle problems and ensure inclusive growth in India by redefining social innovation.
He gave the Mantra of ‘SENSE’ – Share, Explore, Nurture, Serve and Empower for growth of start-ups.
He also highlighted that India had climbed to 40th rank in the Global Innovation Index (GII) of WIPO taking a huge leap of 41 places in 7 years.
The inaugural session was attended by Union Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy, Union Minister of State for Commerce Som Parkash, G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant and NITI Aayog CEO Parameswaran Iyer.