Commerce ministry inks MoU with Amazon to leverage ‘Districts as Export Hubs’ initiative

NEW DELHI: The commerce ministry on Thursday said it has inked an agreement with US-based Amazon to provide training to MSMEs in 20 identified districts in areas such as making the digital catalogues and tax-related issues with a view to promoting exports through the e-commerce medium.

The capacity building session will allow MSMEs to learn about imaging, digital cataloguing of their products, tax advisory amongst others, it said in a statement.

The MoU was signed in the presence of Director General of Foreign Trade (DGF) Santosh Sarangi; Chetan Krishnaswamy (Vice President, Public Policy Amazon); and Bhupen Wakankar (Director Global Trade Amazon India).

DGFT is an arm of the commerce ministry which deals with import and export-related issues of the country.

“To enable micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and boost e-commerce exports from the country, DGFT is collaborating with the various e-commerce players to leverage the Districts as Export Hubs initiative and promote e-commerce exports from the country,” the ministry said in a statement.

As part of this MoU, Amazon and DGFT will co-create capacity building sessions, training and workshops for MSMEs in districts identified by the DGFT as part of the ‘District as Exports Hub’ initiative outlined in the Foreign Trade Policy 2023, in a phased manner.