Turkish entrepreneur Baybars Altuntas, who had held a private meeting with President Barack Obama at the Presidential Summit onEntrepreneurship, is expecting an age of entrepreneurs during the presidential term of Donald Trump.
However, Altuntas said, his expectation hinges on the approval given by the Trump administration to conduct Global Entrepreneurship Summit 2017 in India.
"If Trump gets the event (GES) approved in the Senate, then he is going to support entrepreneurs, like Obama.
(Then), I think it will be an age of entrepreneurs during Trump term. This is my personal expectation," Altuntas said in his reply to a query at the World Start-up Expo here today.
Obama's flagship foreign policy programme which he launched six years ago is coming to India next year.
The GES centres around promoting economic growth, inclusion and opportunities among entrepreneurs from across the world, with a special focus on emerging nations from Africa and Asia.
Pinning hopes on the US President-elect, Altuntas said Trump should support entrepreneurs much more than Obama because the he himself is an entrepreneur.
"Obama was not an entrepreneur and yet he supported them. If Obama could do that as a non-entrepreneur, theoretically then Trump should support more than Obama," Altuntas said.
Altuntas is a most sought-after speaker on entrepreneurship and has represented Turkey in many international forums, including the Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship at the White House in Washington DC, in 2010.
Among the 150 delegates, Altuntas was the only one to have a private meeting with the US President Obama.
Asked what conditions should the country have for marketdevelopment and growth, Altuntas said, "In order to create asustainable economic development, it is necessary to create anenvironment where stock exchange, chamber of commerce,incubation centers, acceleration centers, techno parks, publicinstitutions and universities work together."
"It should also be done in cooperation with SMEs, innovators and startups.
If you can connect those stakeholders together, then this will bring a better success ratio for the country's investment ecosystem," he noted.
The three-day Wold Startup Expo is being organised by Dubai-based venture capital firm, Cocoon Ventures.
It is a platform to bring the biggest, brightest, and innovative startups, technology providers, thought leaders, investors and influencers.
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