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.