Hyderabad, February 2025: The prestigious two-dayWomen’s International Summit on Entrepreneurship(WISE) & B2B Expo 2025, being hosted by The Confederation of Women Entrepreneurs (COWE), was inaugurated by the Chief Guest Shri Jishnu Dev Verma, Hon’ble Governor of Telangana; today at the Engineering Staff College in Gachibowli, Hyderabad, India. Guests of HonorSmt. Konda Surekha, Minister for Environment and Forests, Govt of Telangana; Smt. Mercy Epao, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises; Eminent Guests Smt Meghana Rao, Founder, Meru International Schools; Smt Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Group; Shri C. Shekar Reddy, National Vice Chairman – CII, Indian Green Building Council; Smt Saroj Bajaj, President, Mahila Dakshata Samithi; International Speakers Mr Anurag Singh, COO, UFG LAB, UAE; Mr Nicolas Cary, President and Co-Founder, Blockchain.com, UK; Mr Gareth Wynn Owen, British Deputy High Commissioner, UK Consulate; Mr Ovais Sarmad, Former Deputy Executive Secretary, UNCC, Spain; Ms Rubylyn Hernandez, Aartees Education Foundation Inc, Philippines; graced the occasion.Ms. Lalitha Aluri, National President, COWE India; Ms. Uma Gurkha, Founder Director, COWE India; Ms. Nidhi Toshniwal, National Vice President, COWE India; Ms. Madhu Tyagi, Past National President, COWE India; Ms. Neeraja Reddy, National Secretary-1, Ms. Jyotsna Cheruvu, National Secretary-2, COWE India; Ms. Darsi Aparna, National Treasurer; Ms. Meetu Puri, National Jt. Secretary-1; and were present on the occasion.
WISE is a transformative event empowering women entrepreneurs by providing a platform for networking, learning, and collaboration. This premier event brought together industry leaders, policymakers, global trade representatives, and women entrepreneurs. During the two days It has eight panel discussions on topics like e-vehicles, emerging technologies, rural to global. Women entrepreneurs will showcase their products and services at a B2B Expo. Over 40 buyers including PSUs, Software and other major companies and 70 sellers are participating in a unique buyer seller meet. Over 108 women entrepreneurs from across the country will be recognised their individual fields are being honoured for contributions to COWEand felicitated with Shakti Awards for their outstanding contribution at the valedictory on Saturday.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Jishnu Dev Verma said, this event truly embodies the spirit of innovation, sustainability, and cross border collaboration. Today as we discuss empowering women entrepreneurs through technology, the future of business is digital, inclusive, and globally connected. We should go beyond participation, equity axis and expansion. Technology is the key enabler to bridge gender gaps, open new markets and make businesses scalable. The rural women have woken up, they are family makers and society makers. Women are half the population and we can’t talk about vikasit Bharat with out vikasit women. We need to empower women through education, entrepreneurship.
Smt. Konda Surekha said, our Government is committed to create an inclusive, empowering eco-system where women entrepreneurs thrive and lead the state’s economic growth.Today empowerment of women is not just a matter of social justice, it is a catalyst for economic development. Our government is focussed on transforming women into wealth creators through the Indira Mahila Shakti program, this flagship program will enable one lakh crore in bank linkages over five years, the vision is to create one lakh women crorepatis, interest free loans are provided for SHGs, establishment of Indira Mahila Shakti bazars, integration of SHG products with e-commerce. I commend COWE for its two decades of remarkable work in fostering women entrepreneurship across India. It has empowered women through training, mentorship, and entrepreneurship development programs. Their contribution in developing women specific industrial estates, skill training and grassroot mentorship has created transformative opportunities for women entrepreneurs.
Smt. Mercy said, we at the ministry of MSME run a whole lot of schemes for women. If you would like to acess some of these schemes, look up at the GIFT scheme, also at the zero effect and zero defect scheme. At the Central level we are working towards onboarding all MSMEs on ONDC and also, we want to encourage all our MSMEs to be on e-commerce platform. We are also aggressive on digitalisation.
Smt Sangita Reddy, digital knowledge is very important, and you can begin your journey on digital learning today by logging on to techequity.com, this platform was India’s gift to women of the world during G20. It is a completely free platform, it has over 500 courses in 120 languages, and over 3 lakh women already benefitted from this platform.
The goal of WISE is to foster cross-sector collaborations, technological innovations, and sustainable business growth. Theprestigious event, funded under the International Cooperation Scheme of the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME), Government of India, is highlighting the critical role women entrepreneurs play in driving India’s economy. Women-led enterprises contribute significantly, representing 20% of MSMEs, employing over 23% of the workforce, and accounting for nearly 13.5 to 15% of the GDP.
Ms. Lalitha Aluri said, COWE has empowered over 2 lakh women entrepreneurs during the last two decades bridging gaps in the market access, finance and business development. Our initiatives including women specific industrial estates, Spoorthi and micro cluster development at district level in all the states continue to drive women led entrepreneurship. Our vision is to expand COWE across all states, reaching ten thousand registered members, support 20 plus micro clusters and establish women specific industrial zones in five states with corporate partnerships, incubator tie ups, and integration with key government schemes, we aim to strengthen women led businesses nationally. WISE 2025 is not just an event, it’s a movement.
Ms. Uma Gurkha said, our vision in starting COWE was to empower women through entrepreneurship. We worked to bring awareness, skilling, marketing support, networking, advocacy with the governments. We touched the lives of more than ten thousand women during this period.
Ms. Jyotsna Cheruvu said, the vision and objective of WISE 2025 is to focus on MSME sectors and MSME led women entrepreneurs at the micro level. We want to create a platform for learning and also to understand the various tools available across the globe, with several foreign speakers sharing their insights.
The theme of the event, “Innovation, Sustainability, and Cross-Border Collaboration”, underscores the significance of adopting cutting-edge practices, promoting eco-friendly initiatives, and cultivating international alliances to empower women entrepreneurs in a rapidly evolving business landscape, fostering their growth and success.
COWE is commemorating the 20 years of its glorious journey with the prestigious Women’s International Summit on Entrepreneurship. During these two decades it built its networkpan India with 1800 life members in 12 Chapters with a footprint across Telangana, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, UP, Uttara Khand, West Bengal, Haryana. COWE empowers women to be successful entrepreneurs and will be spreading its network across the country.
About COWE: The Confederation of Women Entrepreneurs (COWE) is dedicated to empowering and supporting women entrepreneurs through business development, mentorship, skill training, and advocacy. With a strong presence across India, COWE has been instrumental in fostering an inclusive and thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem for women.