Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), under Ministry of Commerce and Industry, is collaborating with various e-commerce players to leverage the Districts as Export Hubs initiative and promote e-commerce exports from the country.
For this, DGFT has signed a MoU with Amazon India. DGFT is in discussion with various e-commerce platforms like Flipkart/Walmart, E-bay, Rivexa, Shopclues, Shiprocket, DHL Express etc. to have similar collaboration in other districts of the country under the Districts as Export Hubs initiative.
Under the MoU with Amazon India, 20 districts have been identified for such capacity building and handholding sessions.
The MoU was signed in the presence of Santosh Sarangi (Additional Secretary and Director General, DGFT), Chetan Krishnaswamy (Vice President, Public Policy – Amazon) and Bhupen Wakankar (Director Global Trade – Amazon India).
It is a significant move to enable micro, small and medium enterprises and boost e-commerce exports from the country.
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.
The initiative seeks to link local producers even in rural and remote districts with global supply chains. The collaboration aims to enable exporters/MSMEs to sell their ‘Made in India’ products to customers internationally.
Under the collaboration, Districts will be identified by various e-commerce platforms across India, to undertake various capacity-building and outreach activities in collaboration with DGFT- Regional Authorities. These activities will focus on educating MSMEs on e-commerce exports and enabling them to sell to customers across the world. In addition, the capacity building session will allow MSMEs to learn about imaging, digital cataloging of their products, tax advisory amongst others. With this, Indian entrepreneurs can build their e-commerce exports businesses and global brands.
