Why India needs more events like Global Entrepreneurship Summit

The Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) being held at Hyderabad—where Ivanka Trump, Advisor to US President Donald Trump is leading an American delegation—promises to “highlight India’s enabling environment for innovation and entrepreneurship – including actions by the government to increase the ease of doing business, eliminating unnecessary regulations, and supporting startups” as the host Niti Aayog puts it. Niti Aayog says it would also “highlight India’s entrepreneurial spirit”.

It seems India needs more such programmes.

Entrepreneurship is a less desirable career choice in India when compared to its peers in the least developed economies as well as in Brazil, China and South Africa. According to a survey by Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), a global consortium researching on entrepreneurship, only 39.3 per cent in India think entrepreneurship as a good career choice.

In China, 65.9 per cent respondents said they think entrepreneurship as a good career choice, followed by South Africa (73.8 per cent) and Brazil 77.7 per cent.

In India, 38 per cent adults perceive good opportunities to start a business and 38 per cent adults believe they have capabilities to start a business, while 44 per cent feel that the fear of failure is preventing them from taking the plunge, the survey says.

The survey found that in India, 3.2 per cent adults are ‘nascent entrepreneurs’ (actively involved in setting up a business), while 7.7 per cent are ‘new business owners’ (in operation for more than three months but less than 42 months).

India’s entrepreneurial exit rate is the second lowest among all GEM countries, which is indeed a positive factor.

According to the GEM National Experts Survey 2015, major constraints for entrepreneurship development in India include lack of funds, government regulation and complex tax structures, entrepreneurial education at primary and secondary school levels, and culture and social norms.

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