Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is a permanent intergovernmental international organization, comprising 9 Member States namely the Republic of India, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the People’s Republic of China, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan, and the Republic of Uzbekistan. The SCO focuses on strengthening mutual trust and neighborliness among the Member States, promoting their effective cooperation in politics, trade, economy, research, technology, and culture, as well as in education, energy, transport, tourism, environmental protection, and other areas; making joint efforts to maintain and ensure peace, security, and stability in the region; and moving towards the establishment of a democratic, fair and rational new international political and economic order.
India has taken several initiatives to build to empower the local startup ecosystems in the SCO Member States, provide value to startups through mentoring and enabling access to investor and corporate engagement activities ,and solve social problems through innovative solutions and exchange knowledge on how institutional interventions can be introduced to support the startup ecosystem. A detailed report can be accessed here:
All Member States agreed to create a Special Working Group for Startups and Innovation (SWG) at the Summit of SCO Heads of State in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on 16th September 2022. Given the importance of innovation and entrepreneurship in driving and diversifying an economy, India had proposed this initiative in 2020 to create a new pillar of cooperation between the SCO Member States. The SWG was created with the vision of fostering collaboration among SCO Member States, to not only benefit the startup ecosystem, but also accelerate regional economic development. After multiple rounds of meetings chaired by Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Government of India, the Member States decided to approve and adopt the Regulations of the SWG to be permanently chaired by India in SCO.
DPIIT has organised various initiatives for the startup ecosystems of the SCO Member States since 2020, including three editions of the SCO Startup Forum. By leading such engagements, India undertook an opportunity to expand the innovation footprint, knitting the whole ecosystem together and inspiring other SCO Member States to take up similar programs.
The SCO Startup Forum is a platform for the stakeholders from the startup ecosystems from all SCO Member States to interact and collaborate. The entrepreneurial activities aim to empower the local startup communities in the SCO Member States. The SCO Startup Forum aims to create multilateral cooperation and engagement for startups among the SCO Member States. This engagement will empower the local startup ecosystems in the SCO Member States.
The following are the objectives of the engagement:
DPIIT organised the SCO Startup Forum 3.0 on 11th April 2023 in New Delhi, India. The forum saw physical participation from the SCO Member States. Shri Som Parkash, Hon’ble Minister of State for Commerce & Industry, delivered the keynote address highlighting the role of the Startup Ecosystem in the development of a nation and past initiatives such as Startup Forum 2020, Startup Forum 2021, and SCO Mentorship Series for SCO Member States. Smt. Manmeet Kaur Nanda, Joint Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, addressed the delegation about India’s Startup Journey and various initiatives undertaken by DPIIT to help startups scale up. The delegates later attended a workshop on ‘Role of Bilateral and Multilateral Engagement in Developing Startup Ecosystem’ followed by an incubator visit at IIT Delhi.
After the success of the first-ever SCO Startup Forum launched in 2020, DPIIT hosted the second edition of the SCO Startup Forum on the 27th - 28th of October 2021. The SCO Startup Forum 2021 builds on the foundation, laid last year, for multilateral cooperation and engagement for startups among the SCO Member States. Hon’ble Minister of State, Commerce and Industry, Shri Som Parkash, SCO Secretary-General, His Excellency Vladimir Norov, and Secretary, DPIIT, Shri Anurag Jain, were among the dignitaries present during the launch of the SCO Startup Forum 2021.
The two-day Forum was held virtually through a customized platform representing the Indian culture in augmented reality. The Forum saw participation from 5,800+ startup ecosystem stakeholders from over 28+ countries and 169 Startups from 5 SCO Member States showcased their innovations on the SCO Startup Showcase. Discussions on topics pertinent to the development of the startup ecosystem such as Multilateral Incubator Programs and Procuring Social Innovation were undertaken to explore synergies among the countries. These power-packed discussions saw a representation of 16 subject-matter-experts from all eight SCO Member States including a virtual incubation tour of an Indian Incubator. Further, a Knowledge Sharing Workshop was organised to build capacity among the SCO founders. The workshop covered topics such as turning an idea into a billion-dollar business, growing, and scaling your startup, and helping startups go global which were delivered by leading Indian startup founders such as Pocket Aces, BankBazaar, Bellatrix Aerospace, and leaders from marquee organizations such as IVCA, Microsoft for Startups, and CISCO Launchpad.
SCO Startup Forum 2021 launched the SCO Startup Hub, a single point of contact for the SCO startup ecosystem that provides insights into the startup ecosystems of the 8 Member States. The microsite serves as an active engagement platform and a thorough digital handbook leading to the entrepreneurial world of the SCO Member States. Link: https://www.startupindia.gov.in/content/sih/en/sco.html
2021
OCT
| Duration (IST) | Agenda |
|---|---|
1200 - 1205 hrs |
Welcome Note Smt. Shruti Singh, Joint Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade |
| 1205 – 1210 hrs | Industry Perspective Mr. Sunil Kant Munjal, Chairman, Confederation of Indian Industry National Startup Council |
| 1210 – 1215 hrs | Introduction to Indian Startup Ecosystem Mr. Deepak Bagla, Managing Director & CEO, Invest India |
| 1215 – 1220 hrs | Address by SCO Secretariat H.E. Vladimir Norov, Secretary-General, SCO Secretariat |
| 1220 - 1225 hrs | Set in Motion SCO Startup Forum 2.0 Shri Anurag Jain, Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade |
| 1225 - 1235 hrs | Inaugural Address & Launch of the SCO Startup Forum 2.0 Shri. Som Parkash, Minister of State, Commerce and Industry, Government of India shall commence the SCO Startup Forum 2.0. Launch of Key Agenda Items The following activities shall be launched by Hon’ble Minister post the Keynote:
|
| 1235 - 1405 hrs | Multilateral Incubator Program A roundtable to discuss the Incubation ecosystem followed by a virtual tour shall be organized |
| Duration (IST) | Agenda |
|---|---|
| 1200 - 1205 hrs | Opening Remarks: Day 2 SCO Startup Forum 2.0 Smt. Shruti Singh, Joint Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade |
| 1205 – 1505 hrs | Knowledge Sharing Workshop A workshop to build capacity among the SCO Startup founders shall be organized |
| 1505 – 1635 hrs | Procuring Social Innovations A roundtable to discuss public procurement in the context of startups shall be organized |
| 1635 – 1640 hrs | Startup India Team The Startup India Team shall deliver the Vote of Thanks |
To facilitate cross-border incubation and acceleration that enable startups to explore international markets and get focused mentorship, deliberating over Multilateral Incubator Programs is a must. In Forum 2021, a session focusing on the Multilateral Incubator Program has been organized with the aim to share the nuances of setting up an incubation centre to help startups scale up their ideas. This session focuses on how the Government bodies can support incubators through fiscal and non-fiscal incentives. Further, a 30 minutes virtual tour will be conducted by an Indian Incubator, focusing on the building blocks of setting up an incubator and the different elements of an incubation centre for the relevant stakeholders of the SCO Member States.
To increase scaling opportunities for startups by building capacity in entrepreneurs through Knowledge Sharing Workshops is of utmost essence. A Knowledge Exchange workshop to build capacity among the SCO Startup founders has been organized. Renowned professionals from the Indian startup ecosystem share their startup knowledge. The workshop also highlights the nuances of the startup ecosystem. Topics such as how to create a robust business model, how to identify the target audience, how to build a pitch deck, how to approach investors, how to manage a startup team, etc. comprise the topics of the workshop.
To create open procurement channels to enable matchmaking for procuring innovative solutions from startups, discussing avenues of Procuring Social Innovations is one of the focus areas. Forum 2021 includes a roundtable dedicated to Procuring Social Innovation. The roundtable aims to explore provisions in the public procurement process for providing access to Government markets to startups. The discussion highlights the role of startups working towards social innovation in the context of social problems faced by the SCO Member States.
To feature innovative startups across sectors from the SCO Member States, a dedicated virtual platform has been curated. The virtual arena acts as a discovery platform with a repository of innovative startups across sectors from the SCO Member States. The startup showcase enables the entrepreneurs to display various features of their innovation such as a business idea, founder details, product images, contact details, etc. The showcase aims to facilitate connection for startups not only with businesses and target consumers but also with Government bodies. Explore
To promote entrepreneurship and innovation by building lucrative channels of sharing of Best Practices are imperative. Forum 2021 launched the Knowledge Bank developed to showcase different elements of each SCO Member States such as details of their startup ecosystems, incubators, investors, policies, etc. The Knowledge Bank aims not only to serve as a guide to the startup stakeholders in the ecosystem but also to capsulate information that shall enable aspiring entrepreneurs to successfully pursue their journey.
To encourage global corporates and investors to work closely with startups and provide local entrepreneurs with much-needed support and market access, structured models of engagement with corporates and investors are critical. Forum 2021 launches the Open Innovation Challenge in partnership with the foundations, corporates, and investors to recognize and reward sector-agnostic startups. This Open Innovation Challenge enables the identification of solutions that can be implemented in the SCO Member States. These Corporates, Foundations, and Investors will provide incentives such as cash grants, pilot projects, incubators, mentorship, co-development opportunity among others to the winning startups from all SCO Member States. Open Innovation Challenge
SCO Mentorship Series
A 3-month long virtual mentorship series ‘Starting-Up’ was organised for the nominated startups, to build capacity among the SCO Startup founders, from July to September 2023. This series provided guidance and mentorship to aspiring entrepreneurs. The Virtual mentorship workshops comprised of 1-hour long sessions every week over 3 months i.e. a total of 12 sessions. The workshops highlighted important fundamental concepts and building blocks of successful startups. Startups were individually handheld, and their queries were addressed by experts over the 3 months. A total of 100+ hours of mentorship was provided to the startups.
Below mentioned is the structure of the mentorship series:
