Parul
Amazon.com Inc founder and CEO Jeff Bezos is currently in India. He has reportedly made a statement at the maiden edition of his firm’s micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME)-focussed event, Amazon Smbhav, that his company would invest an additional $1 billion (about Rs 7,000 crore) to help bring small businesses online in India. In fact, he also committed to using the retail giant’s “size, scope and scale” to export $10 billion of made-in-India goods by 2025.
Bezos’ India visit comes at a time when the Competition Commission of India (CCI) is probing his company, as well as Walmart-owned Flipkart, on complaints of deep discounting practices and tie-ups with preferred sellers.
Bezos, donned a traditional Indian attire at the event, owing to be committed to a long-term partner of India.
At the event, Jeff quoted, “I want to make a prediction for you. I predict that the 21st century is going to be the Indian century. The dynamism, the energy, everywhere I go here, I meet people who are working in self-improvement and growth. This country has something special, democracy,” he said.
He further said that in this 21st century, the most important alliance is going to be the alliance between India and the US. He further added that the firm aims to digitise 10 million MSMEs with the proposed investment. In addition to providing training and enrolling MSMEs into its programmes, Amazon will help them work on cloud technology through specialised AWS offerings at low costs. Also, it will establish 100 digital haats in cities and villages throughout India.
As per reports, Amazon has invested $5 billion in India in the last five years. The e-commerce platform also announced plans to support local neighbourhood shops and kiranas. The company also plans to expand its ‘I Have Space’ programme.
