Trump pats daughter

Washington: US President Donald Trump has applauded his daughter and adviser Ivanka's "great work" in promoting women entrepreneurs during her visit to India.

Ivanka is leading a US delegation to the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) in Hyderabad being co-hosted by the two countries.

"Great work Ivanka," Trump said in a late-night tweet as he retweeted the US state department which said Ivanka had commented on "US efforts to fuel entrepreneurship so that Americans can turn their dreams into incredible legacies".

The US ambassador to the United Nations, the Indian-origin Nikki Haley, also praised Ivanka, 36.

"Thrilled to see @IvankaTrump in India promoting female entrepreneurs. At home that means improving workforce development & cutting govt red tape. Globally it means creating an environment where women - across the world - have access to the capital & mentorship they need to succeed," Haley tweeted on Tuesday.

US state department spokesperson Heather Nauert also praised Ivanka for her accomplishments in Hyderabad.

"We are certainly proud of what she's been able to accomplish, and I can think of no better representative for the US government to talk about women's entrepreneurship than her," Nauert told a news conference.

"And we are excited about the focus that this year's GES puts on the US-India bilateral relationship," Nauert said.

On the second day of GES 2017 on Wednesday, Ivanka batted for the formulation of policies that support greater participation of women in the workforce. She referred to technology that could be used to allow women to work from kitchens and help reduce the gender gap.

"I think it's incredibly important that policies support modern families.... We need to start thinking about ways to support the modern workforce and the modern reality in household. I think technology is a great driver," Ivanka said.

She was speaking at a session on innovation in workforce development.

Ivanka suggested that policymakers need to devise ways to support the "modern workforce and the modern reality in household".

"Technology is reducing barriers to starting businesses, it's creating flexibility.... Technology offers tremendous opportunities to women and women entrepreneurs," she said.

Asserting the need to fuel skill training and workforce development, Ivanka said it was necessary to align what was being taught in the classroom with economic realities.

"I am incredibly fearful that when we look at where future work is going, if women continue to represent only 13 per cent of engineers in the United States or continue to represent only 24 per cent of computer science professionals, the gender wage gap is actually going to grow in years to come," she said.

"It is something we need to address, it is something that the administration in the US is very very focussed on." PTI