Coimbatore : In a significant move to enable micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and boost e-commerce exports from the country, Amazon India has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India. As part of this MoU, Amazon and DGFT will co-create capacity building sessions, training and workshops for MSMEs across 75 districts identified by the DGFT, which are a part of the Districts as Export Hubs initiative outlined in the Foreign Trade Policy introduced in March’23, in a phased manner. The initiative seeks to link local producers in rural and remote districts with global supply chains. The MoU was signed in the presence of Shri. Santosh Sarangi (Additional Secretary and Director General of DGFT), Chetan Krishnaswamy (Vice President, Public Policy – Amazon) and Bhupen Wakankar (Director Global Trade – Amazon India).

Amazon and DGFT will focus on educating MSMEs on e-commerce exports and enabling them to sell to customers across the world. Amazon will also enable access to a host of third-party service providers that MSMEs can engage with to avail services like imaging, digital cataloging of their products, tax advisory amongst others. With this, Indian entrepreneurs can build their e-commerce exports businesses and global brands.

Shri. Santosh Sarangi Additional Secretary and Director General of DGFT – “The District as Exports Hub initiative is an implementation of Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision of converting each district into an export hub. We are working closely with state governments and private players to leverage the potential of each district across India and enable MSMEs, farmers and small industries to get benefit of export opportunities in overseas markets. To promote e-commerce exports from the districts, DGFT is collaborating with the various e-commerce platforms to hold training and capacity building sessions in the districts. In first such collaboration with different e-commerce platforms, DGFT is collaborating with Amazon as a step towards our goal of enabling $200-300 billion in ecommerce exports from India by 2030.”

Bhupen Wakankar, Director Global Trade at Amazon India said, “We strongly believe that technology adoption will play a crucial role in opening up the exports opportunity for lakhs of MSMEs across India and the recent emphasis on e-commerce exports within the FTP’23 marks a promising era for technologically-enabled export activities. We are excited about this collaboration with the DGFT and we really look forward to play our part in helping Indian MSMEs and entrepreneurs create strong global brands. Our focus remains on making exports simpler and more accessible to businesses of all sizes as we work toward our goal of enabling $20 billion in cumulative ecommerce exports from India by 2025.”

More about Districts as Export Hubs initiative

The Districts as Export Hubs initiative constitutes a separate chapter in India’s Foreign Trade Policy and underscores the importance of harnessing the unique potential and diverse identity of each district, transforming them into export hubs. The Department of Commerce, through the DGFT collaborates directly with States/UTs and districts to establish institutional mechanisms for facilitating exports of identified products/services. This initiative focuses on boosting manufacturing and exports in urban areas while stimulating economic activity in rural districts. It establishes connections between local producers and global supply chains, addressing various facets of production.

More About Amazon Global Selling

Amazon Global Selling is a flagship ecommerce exports program that helps lower the entry barrier for Indian MSMEs and entrepreneurs to start or expand their exports business using ecommerce. The program was launched in India in 2015 to support Indian exporters reach customers worldwide through Amazon’s international websites and marketplaces. It provides an avenue for businesses of all sizes to build global brands. Today there are more than 1.25 lakh exporters on the program, showcasing millions of Made in India products to customers in 200+ countries and territories across the world. Together, they are on track to surpass $8 billion in cumulative exports by the end of 2023.