Prince Fahd: India did ‘great job’ in giving everyone chance in StartUp20 meet

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - PANAJI, Goa — India did a great job in putting together the recommendations of everyone and giving everyone the chance to collaborate and share their suggestions, said Prince Fahd Bin Mansour Bin Nasser at the G20-StartUp20 Engagement Group meeting in Goa on Sunday.

Prince Fahd was appointed as the representative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at the G20 Young Entrepreneurs' Alliance (G20 YEA). G20 YEA is a global network comprising young entrepreneurs and the organizations that support them. It was launched during India's presidency of the G20.

He said that it is high time we need to have awareness about startups, and entrepreneurs' contribution to the economy and the support that they need.

"Our presence today is to learn from the best practices of other nations. We believe that the Indians did a great job in putting together the recommendations and giving everyone the chance to collaborate and share their suggestions and recommendations," Prince Fahd told ANI.

"We have had a fruitful and smooth discussion that led us to where we are today," he added.

Responding to a question on the ecosystem back in Saudi Arabia, Prince Fahd said that there is a lot to be said about that.

"There is a lot to be said but if would like to focus on remaining things... today, whenever you need support an ecosystem it has to be done from all sides.

“The government side, the public sector, the private sector as well as the society. So you need to have a lot of awareness about the startups, and entrepreneurs' contribution to the economy and the support they need," he said.

"I think that if all the parts are aware, and they are putting in the efforts, this would lead to great results and that's what happened in Saudi Arabia," he told ANI.

On the first day, over 250+ national and international delegates attended Startup20 Goa, and around 40+ startups from throughout the country displayed their unique products.

The day began with the much-anticipated Policy Communique, which was followed by a series of riveting seminars and presentations that drove the discourse on startup innovation and collaboration, an official statement said.

The Goa meeting also called for a $1 trillion commitment for the startup ecosystem in member countries by 2030, a statement said on Sunday.

The agreement reached on the policy communique was drafted by India as the chair of the group.

The summit meeting of Startup20 Engagement Group, which is slated to happen on July 3 and 4 in Gurugram is expected to adopt the communique.

“The agreement (on policy communique) signifies the confidence of the Startup20 community in scouting startups globally, funding them collaboratively, mentoring them contextually, and scaling them internationally,” the statement said.

“The G20 nations have taken a significant stride forward in their mission to nurture and support startups, setting the stage for a vibrant and thriving global startup ecosystem,” Chair of the Startup 20 Chintan Vaishnav said.

The communique also talks of policies for easy navigation of entrepreneurs across G20 nations and a platform for startups to access mentors within the G20 network.

There are about 8,50,000 startups across the G20 countries, out of which over 98,000 recognized startups are in India. There are about 1600 unicorns in these economies and about 108 are in India. — Agencies