India eyes promising startup exchanges after talks with Saudi G20 rep

India eyes promising startup exchanges after talks with Saudi G20 rep

NEW DELHI: India expects promising exchanges with the Middle East in the startup ecosystem, the chief of Startup20 said on Saturday, after consultations with Saudi Arabia’s representative to the G20 engagement group.

Startup20 is one of 11 official networking groups of the Group of 20 largest economies. It was initiated under India’s G20 presidency this year, and aims to help implement policies that support startups, entrepreneurs, and ecosystem builders for their sustainable growth in member countries.

The engagement group is composed of representatives from various countries. Saudi Arabia — the only Middle Eastern member of G20 — is represented by Prince Fahad bin Mansour Al-Saud, the chair of the board of directors of the Saudi Entrepreneurship Vision.

The group’s delegates met in Goa last week to produce its recommendations and policy directives. The meeting was also attended by Oman, on India’s special invitation as the G20 host.

“The India-Middle East exchange, especially between their startup ecosystems, holds much promise,” Startup20 chair, Dr. Chintan Vaishnav, told Arab News.

“India has the world’s third largest startup ecosystem with close to 100,000 startups and 115 unicorns. The Middle East is both building a vibrant ecosystem as well as progressively investing in startups. There