Technology for MSMEs: Amazon on Thursday announced the launch of its initial Digital Kendra in Surat, Gujarat for digitization of regional MSMEs. The announcement was made at a virtual occasion organised by Amazon in presence of Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani. The e-commerce marketplace, which competes with Walmart-owned Flipkart and other individuals, mentioned important investments have been made in Gujarat by the firm and enabled thousands of regional jobs. Amazon has more than 1 lakh sellers from Gujarat promoting on its marketplace.
Amazon Digital Kendras are offline centers set up to assistance MSMEs develop into conscious of on-line promoting, avail third-party services such as shipping and logistics assistance, cataloging help, digital marketing and advertising services, GST and taxation assistance to establish their on-line presence. “Surat is a key MSME hub in the state. So, we have set our first Digital Kendra in one of the most important MSME clusters in Surat and in the country to cater to thousands of MSMEs located in and around the city,” Amit Agarwal, Senior Vice President and Country Head, Amazon India mentioned for the duration of the launch. The firm has 3 fulfillment centers in the state with more than 1.5 m cubic feet of storage space and more than one hundred Amazon-owned delivery service companion stations that have resulted in thousands of regional jobs, he added.
Gujarat CM Rupani mentioned individuals in Gujarat move to Surat for jobs in MSME organizations involved in diamond, textile, and other sectors even though more than 41,000 units of MSME organizations are based in the city. “Through Amazon’s digital facility, these MSMEs will get a global platform. Under Amazon Digital Kendra, MSMEs will get online training, guidance, and other support,” added Rupani.
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According to Amazon, which is facing an antitrust probe along with Flipkart by the competitors watchdog Competition Commission of India (CCI) for allegations about anti-competitive practices, it has cumulatively digitised 2.5 million MSMEs in India because its India foray in 2013. Moreover, the cumulative e-commerce exports by more than 70,000 MSMEs through Amazon Global Selling stood at more than $3 billion that helped churn out close to 1 million direct and indirect jobs in India, Amazon had mentioned in April this year.
The firm had last year in January announced $1 billion investment to digitise 10 million Indian MSMEs more than the following 5 years. During its inaugural Smbhav occasion in January 2020, Amazon Founder and former CEO Jeff Bezos had mentioned that “Amazon will invest an incremental $1 billion to digitise micro and small businesses in cities, towns, and villages across India, helping them reach more customers than ever before. This initiative will use Amazon’s global footprint to create 10 billion dollars in India exports by 2025.”