Patna: American ambassador to India Kenneth I. Juster visited a start-up incubation centre in Patna on Saturday.
During his first official visit to the state, Juster, US consul general in Calcutta Craig Hall and American Center director Jamie Dragon met seven women entrepreneurs from Bihar to discuss the challenges and opportunities women-run enterprises in the state face.
"Women are half of the population and they must create a role model for others by becoming capable of exhibiting their skills in entrepreneurship," Juster said.
He said every start-up cannot become a success.
"Startup is not just about having an idea. A market and competitive strategy should be there too. They must learn skills to survive in the market in order to become successful," Juster said.
Answering a question about challenges faced by newly created startups, he said: "Through our consulate in Calcutta the goal is to promote start-ups and entrepreneurial activities in eastern India with a special focus on women's entrepreneurship."
While advising women entrepreneurs to limit their businesses inside the country, Juster said: "India is a wide market and local enterprises should focus on it first. It is very unusual for a start-up to compete in the global market.
"They need to find local partners and build relationships in order to conduct their businesses internationally."
The American ambassador also made a courtesy call onGovernor Satya Pal Malik and chief minister Nitish Kumar to discuss the future of US-India relations and Bihar's role in it. He also toured Bodhgaya and Harmandir Sahib Gurudwara in Patna sahib as part of his familiarisation drive.
"The start-up incubation centre in Patna, known as 'Enterprising zone', was established by Bihar Entrepreneurs Association (BEA) with support from the state government in 2014 to provide mentoring support to newly created startups in Bihar," BEA secretary Abhishek Kumar said.
Women entrepreneurs who interacted with the US ambassador were selected from an American embassy-funded project called AIRSWEEE (All India Road Show on Women Economic Empowerment Through Entrepreneurship) to promote women -run enterprises in the state.
At the event, around 30 women entrepreneurs attended a four-day workshop and learned skills as managing human resource, finance and marketing to run a successful enterprise.
Last year the American embassy had co-hosted Global Entrepreneurship summit in Hyderabad in collaboration with the Government of India, under the a theme "Women first, prosperity for all".