Visakhapatnam: Tap entrepreneurial talent says Venkaiah Naidu

Visakhapatnam: Stressing on fostering student-entrepreneurship, Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidun underlined the need for the universities to establish close linkage with industries to mentor and handhold students who come up with novel business ideas.

Addressing The IndUS Entrepreneurs' (TiE) Global Summit-2020 through a video conferencing in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday, the Vice-President asked the universities to set up incubation centres to tap and nurture entrepreneurial talent among youngsters. He also appealed to the corporate sector to come forward to fund and promote the entrepreneurial ecosystem on the university campuses.

Mentioning that youth comprises about 65 per cent of India's population, Venkaiah Naidu laid emphasis on tapping the energies of the talented youth and added they should be job creators rather than job seekers.

He suggested the launch of a special drive to promote entrepreneurship among women.

Describing India as home to the world's third largest start-up ecosystem, Venkaiah Naidu said about 50 per cent of the Tech start-ups are confident of reaching revenues of pre-Covid-19 level. "This certainly is optimistic news and I am sure, things would look up for all Indian start-ups in near future," he added.

Talking about challenges thrown up by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Vice-President said that this is the time to turn adversities into opportunities and called upon the youngsters to come out with innovative ideas to meet emerging challenges.

For the entrepreneurship ecosystem to be effective, the Vice President stressed the need for the private sector to work hand-in-hand with NGOs, universities, and governments.