Address by Shri Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, Hon'ble Chief Minister, Andhra Pradesh, India

Mr. Mohsen A. Khalil, Director, Global Information & Communication Technologies, World Bank Group

Mr. Rachid Benmessaoud, Operations Advisor, World Bank, India Country Office

Mr. H.K. Mittal, Member Secretary, NSTEDB, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India

Mr. V.S. Ramamurthy, formerly Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India

Mr. N. Sreenivasan, Vice President, FICCI

Delegates participating from various countries as well as from India

Friends from print and electronic media

Ladies and Gentlemen

I am very glad to participate in this 2nd Global Forum on Business Incubation. I take this opportunity to welcome all the delegates who all the way came from different countries and India to participate in this forum.

I feel it is more relevant to host this event in Hyderabad since Hyderabad is a much happening City on the global map due to the presence of various Global Companies such as Microsoft, Oracle, IBM, Intel, GE, Wipro, Infosys and TCS etc.

In today's world Information and knowledge are the new sources of wealth creation. The focus today has shifted from materials and territory to ideas and technology. The market places higher value on intellectual and human capital than on assets like bricks and mortar. The modern economy combines knowledge with management to generate wealth. Growing economies need innovation. These innovations boost economic growth by providing new jobs and technology. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are considered to be one of the principal driving forces in economic development. They stimulate private ownership and entrepreneurial skills. They generate employment help diversify economic activity and make a significant contribution to export and trade. This development needs to be nurtured and made effective. For this what we need is the business incubator.

As I understand, incubation is a period where just like chicks need the support of nest and feeding help of its mother bird, till their wings become strong enough to fly and face the larger world, the entrepreneur with ideas need to be provided with needed support, advice and guidance to enable him to start small and grow into a large business.

You are aware that in the early days after getting independence, many institutions such as DSIR, DRDO, NIN, SISI, CTD, BHEL etc have been established which created clusters of industries as small business incubators which played a major role in indigenization of technology. Now these institutions have probably lost their spirit and there is an immediate need to transform them into lively business incubation centers by using the new technology tools.

The Information Technology revolution and the unprecedented growth of the internet has completely changed the nature of business organizations. Even giant I.T. transnational are nothing more than a very large number of highly decentralized small groupings, fully networked, functioning under a common umbrella. These fundamental changes have taken place within a short span of time. We need to extend the benefit of IT and Internet to fuel innovation in traditional businesses.

Let me share with you the experiences that we have in Andhra Pradesh.

This city to Hyderabad itself has incubation mechanisms located at many of our institutions of excellence such as ICICI Knowledge Park, ISB etc. For example, ICICI Knowledge Park provides built up labs for conducting drug trials so that with small investments, entrepreneur with ideas can start new business.

We need to break the myth that technology only serves the rich and we need to bring the benefit to the large section of the society. The Agri Business Incubator located in ICRISAT, Hyderabad is engaged in bringing technology which are useful to the farmers. I am told that some of the business incubators located in other countries also are serving the larger section of the society through promotion of similar technologies.

Government of Andhra Pradesh have taken this concept to rural areas by creating Self Help Groups for women who make different products which in turn are finding good market support in urban areas. Another scheme "Rajiv Yuvasakti" was introduced to create self-employment among rural youth by giving Government's support in the needed areas.

I am sure that this forum would provide an opportunity to share knowledge and good practices in the area.

I request the forum to suggest where we can use this concept for promoting enterprises to create maximum employment by taking advantage of growth momentum in the economy and good infrastructure being built in Andhra Pradesh.

I wish the forum a great success.

Thank You