New Delhi: The Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), an arm of Union commerce & industries ministry, has signed an agreement with the multi-national e-commerce major, Amazon, to help the Indian micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) sell their products globally.
The Central government has roped in Amazon in keeping with growing business of online platforms, which according to the industry, have export potential to the tune of $450 billion over the next four-five years. The agreement was signed on Thursday, according to an officer of DGFT, adding that the office was also in talks with other e-commerce platforms like Walmart-promoted Flipkart, E-Bay, Rivexa, Shopclues, etc.
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President of the India SME forum Vinod Kumar said the new tie-up would unfold new opportunities for a range of Indian products to be marketed globally. “One small unit with ₹5 crore annual transaction in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have got the order of ₹1.70 crore for foxnut (Makhana) from the United States,” added Kumar.
Elaborating further, the India SME forum chief said there was huge potential and this kind of collaboration and the recently launched initiatives of the Central government such as one district, one product (ODOP) are working well in all 35 states and the Union territories as part of Aatmnirbhat Bharat Abhiyan to promoted local crafts and other district-specific products.
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According to the MoU, which was signed in presence of DGFT Santosh Sarangi and Amazon India director, global trade, Bhupen Wakankar, Amazon and DGFT will formulate strategy for upskilling, organising training and workshops the SMSEs in the districts to focus on export-oriented products.
The collaboration is also in sync with the Centre’s foreign trade policy, which identifies e-commerce as a focus area for amplifying the country’s export. The policy, unveiled on March 31 this year, is based on four pillars—incentive to remission, export promotion through collaboration, ease of doing business and focus on emerging areas such as e-commerce to develop districts as hub for exports.
