EDII Trains 68 Participants from 17 Countries in Entrepreneurship
Ahmedabad, October 28, 2026: The Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII), Ahmedabad, has trained 68 participants from 17 countries through two entrepreneurship development programmes conducted under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Programme of the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India.
The programmes, which concluded on Tuesday, focused on strengthening entrepreneurship skills, promoting informal sector enterprises, developing business plans and supporting sustainable livelihoods. The training provided participants with practical approaches to enterprise development that can be adapted to the economic and institutional contexts of their respective countries.
The first programme, Informal Sector Enterprise, Entrepreneurship and Local Economic Development, had 33 participants, comprising 19 men and 14 women, from Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Ghana, Iraq, Mali, Namibia, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Uganda, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.
The programme covered identifying local business opportunities, mapping resources and value chains, and improving market access through value addition, quality improvement, packaging and branding. Participants also explored community enterprises, self-help groups and cluster-based business models.
India’s Start-up Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP) was presented as a case study on promoting rural microenterprises through entrepreneurship training, access to finance and community-based support.
The second programme, Entrepreneurship Development and Skill Upgradation, included 35 participants, comprising 15 men and 20 women, from Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Iraq, Liberia, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Seychelles, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
The two-week programme covered business opportunity identification, market research, feasibility assessment, business plan preparation, project costing and financial planning. Participants also received exposure to digital marketing, customer acquisition, product pricing and financial viability.
Practical learning activities included Business Model Canvas development, interactions with startups, industry and unit visits, decision-making simulations, and the preparation of individual action plans for enterprise creation and skill upgradation.
Dr Sunil Shukla, Director General, EDII, said, “Entrepreneurship development requires both the ability to identify opportunities within local economies and the skills to translate those opportunities into viable enterprises. Through these programmes, participants gain practical insights into market assessment, value-chain development, business planning and financial management. The learning can help them explore context-specific approaches to enterprise development and sustainable livelihoods in their respective countries,”
EDII has been associated with the Ministry of External Affairs’ ITEC programme since 2000–01, conducting capacity-building programmes for international participants in entrepreneurship promotion. The initiative supports knowledge exchange and the development of entrepreneurial capabilities across participating countries.
