Commerce Ministry inks agreement with Amazon for ‘Districts as Export Centers’ scheme

New Delhi, 23 November: The Commerce Ministry has signed an agreement with leading e-commerce company Amazon for the ‘Districts as Export Centers’ scheme. Under this agreement, Amazon and DGFT will organize training and workshops for MSMEs in these districts.

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a statement issued on Thursday that an agreement has been signed with Amazon to promote exports through e-commerce. The MoU was signed in the presence of Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) Santosh Sarangi, Amazon Vice President (Public Policy) Chetan Krishnaswamy and Amazon India (Director Global Trade) Bhupen Wakankar.

According to the ministry, under this, ‘digital catalogues’ will be created in 20 districts. Apart from this, training will be given to small, cottage and medium enterprises (MSMEs) on tax-related issues. Its objective is to promote exports through e-commerce. The Commerce Ministry said that under this MoU, Amazon and DGFT will organize capacity-building sessions, training and workshops for MSMEs in the identified districts in a phased manner.

It is noteworthy that DGFT has identified these districts under the ‘Districts as Export Hubs’ initiative mentioned in the Foreign Trade Policy 2023. DGFT is a branch of the Commerce Ministry that deals with the import and export issues of the country.