Bengaluru–About 4,000 women entrepreneurs from across the world will participate in mega summit ‘Think Big 2016’ on November 14-15 here and explore investment opportunities in diverse sectors, create jobs and impart skills.
Organised by the Karnataka government in association with WEConnect International at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC), the two-day event will connect the delegates with 300 industry leaders and 400 organisations and encourage more women to become entrepreneurs in various sectors of the economy.
“The summit will be a great platform to showcase the state government’s proactive approach to empower women entrepreneurs and pave way for investments in the state,” said Additional Chief Secretary K. Ratna Prabha in a statement here on Saturday.
The US-based WEConnect is a global network that connects women-owned businesses to qualified buyers the world over and helps women entrepreneurs to succeed in global value chains.
It aims to have a world in which women have the same opportunity as their male counterparts to design and implement business solutions that create wealth and ensure the sustainable prosperity of their communities.
Touted to be Asia’s largest women entrepreneurship platform, the summit will have multi-track conferences, workshops, awards and a trade fair to showcase products and technologies developed by women-owned businesses.
“The state government has also issued orders to reimburse women entrepreneurs from the state who paid fee for WEConnect certification and to fund setting up an exclusive Women Entrepreneurs Park in the city,” said Prabha, a supporter of women entrepreneurship and mentor for the event.
The delegates at the summit will be business owners, multinational corporate buyers, government officials, investors, thought leaders, multilateral and bilateral organisations, banks, venture capitalists and private equity firms.
“The growth in the supply chain diversity budgets of our corporate members has increased their ability to procure more from women-owned business, enhancing the global market value,” said WEConnect Executive Director Parul Soni.
As women’s business ownership is considered critical to improve the quality of life of women in India, the summit will provide them a platform to develop an ecosystem for inclusive growth.
“The event aims at introducing women business owners to public and private sector opportunities and encouraging corporations to build up a buyer/customer base of women-owned businesses,” added Soni. (IANS)
