Harjinder Kaur Talwar, FICCI Ladies’ Organisation (FLO) President and Global Ambassador, Conference of International Women’s Entrepreneurial Challenge Foundation (IWEC), hosted a celebratory dinner for 39 successful women entrepreneurs from across the world who received the iconic IWEC Award. Over 250 women entrepreneurs from 20 countries took part in the 12th Annual Awards of IWEC, 2019, held on November 11-12, 2019, at FICCI, Federation House, New Delhi.


“The IWEC Awards and Conference present a global platform for exchange of knowledge, experience and connectivity among women business owners worldwide. Started in 2007, it’s an initiative of FLO, Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, Manhattan Chamber of Commerce (New York) and the US Department of State. Being a founder-member of the prestigious IWEC Awards, I’m thrilled to host the IWEC Awards this year as FLO’s National President. It was both a pleasure and a privilege to give global delegates a taste of India’s culture, heritage and hospitality,” said Harjinder Kaur Talwar, FLO President & Global Ambassador, IWEC.

The Conference — with the theme, Connecting Women Businesses Globally: Leading the Way to Innovation and Integration — brought together 250 businesswomen from across 20 countries, cohesively driving the agenda of scripting economic change for women globally.

The two-day conference saw spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar addressing the participants on how to promote, grow and expand their businesses while managing their stress and emotional quotient, while Nitin Gadkari, Union minister for road transport, highways and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), gave insights into the Indian industry and its preparedness as a manufacturing hub for global markets.

Sangita Reddy, Senior Vice-President, FICCI, and Joint Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Group; Kalli Purie, Vice-Chairperson of the India Today Group and Kiran Chopra, Director, Punjab Kesari Publishers Pvt. Ltd were the three awardees from India, besides 36 awardees from other countries.

This prestigious forum culminated in a IWEC gala dinner to recognize and celebrate the awardees’ achievements. There was a beautiful presentation of Indian classical dance by the Pushpanjali Cultural Academy, showcasing the cultural heritage of India. The DJ took over the floor after that and it was a beautiful sight with women from all over the world dancing to the sound of music.

Among the guests present were royalties from Bahrain, Jordan and ambasasadors, members of Parliament, governing body members of the FLO and renowned personalities from the city. Guests included His Excellency Farhod ARZIEV, Uzbekistan ambassador MPmm Anurag Sharma, Shovana Narayan, Sharon Lowen, Nasir Abdullah, designers Suket Dhir, Abha Dalmia and jewellery designer Ambar Pariddi Sahai, among others.