Brand Hyderabad to get boost with GES

Two events happening in Hyderabad on Tuesday underscore the importance of this southern city as a booming tech hub, a key centre for entrepreneurship and the top ranking city in terms of quality of life.

Hyderabad will not only achieve the distinction of becoming the first Indian city to host Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) but will also get a swanky metro rail.

The city, which hosted two US Presidents, Bill Clinton and George Bush, in 2000 and 2006 respectively, is all set to welcome President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump for GES.

The White House advisor is leading the US delegation at the three-day event, which will bring together 1,500 entrepreneurs, investors and ecosystem supporters from 150 countries.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate Hyderabad Metro before joining Ivanka for the GES inaugural.

While GES is the latest in the long list of major international events hosted by the city during last few years, industry leaders hope the event will give further boost to Brand Hyderabad.

Billed as the most happening city, Hyderabad is recognized as go-to destination for the investors.

"Five most valued companies in the world have their largest presence outside the US, in Hyderabad. No other city in the world enjoys this distinction," says Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary, IT, Industry and Commerce in the Telangana government.

When the US government decided to organise the GES in India, ANITI Ayog invited eight cities to pitch for it. Hyderabad scored over others for having good MICE infrastructure, pleasant weather and for being an important centre for entrepreneurship and start-ups.

The Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC), the venue of GES, has hosted several global conferences since 2006. It is considered as the best convention centre in South Asia.

"Hosting a global event is not a new thing for Hyderabad. It is already on the global map but GES will underline the potential of the city," Srikanth Badiga, Chairman of the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana chapter of the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC) told IANS.

He believes the event would give boost to US investment into Telangana and increase the number of US companies having their presence here.

Hyderabad, which emerged on the global IT map in late 1990s, is home 130 American companies including giants like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Uber and Qualcomm.

"The city has a different level of relations with US companies. The number can grow manifold in days to come," Badiga said.

According to officials, the companies make investment or expand their presence in Hyderabad as it was a very liveable city, the quality of infrastructure was good while the cost was low and it had good quality of life.

For the third year in a row, Mercer ranked Hyderabad as the best city in terms of living standards among Indian cities.

"GES is a great opportunity for Hyderabad. It will give boost to brand Hyderabad," V. Rajanna, Chairman, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Telangana, told IANS.

He believes Hyderabad is unique with its infrastructure, talent and good eco-system.

Rajanna, who is also Vice President and Regional Head and Global Head-Technology Business Unit at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), said the investor-friendly policies of Telangana government had given further push to the growth.

Telangana last year enacted the Telangana State Industrial Project Approval and Self Certification System - TS-IPASS - to encourage investors for quick implementation of their projects and to streamline the regulatory process.

The city's IT exports were a mere Rs 274 crore in 1997-98, which have now grown to over Rs 85,000 crore. The sector today employs over 4.30 lakh people.

Hyderabad is also considered the bulk drug capital of India, accounting for nearly 30 percent of the production in the country. It is expected to further cement its position with the launch of Pharma City, a special cluster.

Home to a large number of defence research laboratories, the city is emerging as the aerospace and defence industry hub. The facilities which have come up here in recent times include those manufacturing cabins of the helicopters that fly the US President and F-16 fighter jets.

--IANS

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