Ivanka Trump is India-bound, traveling to Hyderabad just after the Thanksgiving holiday.
Building on a series of international visits and meetings here in the United States with world leaders, Trump will lead the US delegation to the Global Entrepreneurship Summit, which is being cohosted by the United States and India.
The first daughter and senior adviser to the President was invited to the summit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he visited the White House in June. Speaking to reporters on a conference call Tuesday, Trump called the summit “a testament to the strong friendship” of the two countries, as well as an event to spotlight “the growing economic and security partnership between our two nations.”
The summit, which is in its eighth year, will be themed “Women First and Prosperity for All,” which Trump said “demonstrates the Trump administration’s commitment to the principle that when women are economically empowered, their communities and countries thrive.”
Trump will deliver a keynote address and participate in panels on women’s entrepreneurship and workforce development, both key aspects of her West Wing portfolio. Over 1,200 entrepreneurs will attend, including 350 from the US.
She will be joined by State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert, as well as US Treasurer Jovita Carranza, administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Neomi Rao, USAID administrator Mark Green and Overseas Private Investment Corporation president and CEO Ray Washburne, among others.
The trip has already made international headlines for the preparations underway: Hyderabad’s police commissioner gave an unprecedented order to get beggars off the streets ahead of Trump’s visit.
“We were surprised by those reports,” a senior administration official said when asked about the reports. “We know that the Indian government is really firmly committed to raising individuals out of poverty to create economic opportunity for its large and diverse population, and we think they’re making great progress, although obviously there are still strides that it needs to take. But we understand and believe its firmly committed to that path.”
The trip’s spotlight on women’s economic empowerment also comes at a time when the United States has been focused on questions of sexual abuse and assault in the workplace.
“It’s a broad challenge for India and for Indian society, just as it is for us, but it’s one in which we are looking to continuing to partner with Indian government to improve the lives and the conditions and the opportunities available to women,” the official said.
Another official said the summit will provide the world’s business leaders with an opportunity to discuss best practices in providing safe opportunities for women to work, learn and trade.
“It is something that we hope with this great platform of investors, of entrepreneurs from around the world, to really dig into what have been the best practices, frankly, to eliminating these issues for women,” the official said.
