NE BUSINESS BUREAU
CHENNAI, FEB 17
Amazon and the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) recently announced an extension of their collaboration to accelerate ecommerce exports from India. This builds on their initial Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in November 2023, which aimed to leverage the government’s Districts as Export Hubs initiative to boost MSME (micro, small and medium enterprises) exports.
The renewed association will focus on equipping MSMEs across India with essential skills and resources to succeed in ecommerce exports. The MoU was renewed in the presence of Santosh Sarangi (Additional Secretary and Director General of DGFT), Chetan Krishnaswamy (Vice President, Public Policy – Amazon) and Bhupen Wakankar (Director Global Trade – Amazon India).
- Renew MoU to focus on capacity building sessions and providing guidance on building a global business for small businesses in 47 key districts across the country
- The collaboration to focus on establishing of Export Communities as local offline networks for MSMEs.
- Amazon to integrate its Export Navigator tool within DGFT’s Trade Connect portal to enable small businesses and entrepreneurs to understand the export compliance requirements at each stage of their exports journey.
The expanded collaboration introduces several new initiatives to further bolster India’s ecommerce exports ecosystem. These include specialized training sessions across 47 districts, integration of Amazon’s Export Navigator tool within DGFT’s Trade Connect portal, and the establishment of Export Communities as local offline networks for MSMEs. The collaboration will leverage diverse event formats to provide guidance to MSMEs on expanding product selection and scaling export operations. By combining Amazon’s global reach and expertise in ecommerce exports with DGFT’s local expertise, this initiative aims to unlock new opportunities for Indian sellers in international markets, aligning with the government’s vision to boost exports and support local businesses.
In the first year of their association, DGFT and Amazon organized a series of ecommerce exports promotion events across 20 districts in India. These events, held between December 2023 and December 2024, saw Amazon representatives providing guidance to over 3,000 MSMEs about ecommerce exports and the process of selling on Amazon global marketplaces. Participants received on-spot assistance and real-time query resolution. Following these events, Amazon offered support to interested sellers, assisting them with the onboarding process and connecting them with trusted third-party service providers to help obtain necessary documents, meet compliance requirements, and get listing and advertising support.
Santosh Sarangi Additional Secretary and Director General of DGFT, Ministry of Commerce, Govt of India said, “Our continued collaboration with Amazon is a significant step in realizing the vision of making each district an export hub. Building on our initial success, we are expanding our focus to 47 districts to support more MSMEs to access global markets. This partnership has already benefited over 3,000 MSMEs, and we are excited to see its growth. This aligns perfectly with our goal of enabling $200-300 billion in exports from India by 2030, showcasing the best of ‘Make in India’ to the world.”
Bhupen Wakankar, Director Global Trade at Amazon India said, “We are excited to extend our collaboration with the DGFT to support MSMEs and entrepreneurs across India to create robust global businesses and contribute to India’s overall exports. Our association since 2023 has shown promising results and we are looking forward to expanding our combined focus to 47 districts this year. Amazon’s focus remains on making exports simpler and more accessible to businesses of all sizes as we work toward our goal of enabling $80 billion in cumulative ecommerce exports from India by 2030.”
