21st to be an Indian century: Jeff Bezos
   Date :16-Jan-2020
21st to be an Indian cent
 
 
NEW DELHI :
 
Bezos commits USD 1 billion investment to digitise small businesses in India 
 
MAKING major investment announcements for small and medium businesses (SMB), Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on Wednesday said that the 21st century will be the century of India. Speaking at the Amazon SMBhav event here, Bezos announced that Amazon would invest $1 billion in digitising SMBs in the country. He further said that the e-commerce major would use its global footprint to export Made in India goods worth $10 billion by 2025.
 
“I predict that 21st century is going to be the Indian century,” he said, adding that apart from the dynamism it has, India is a democracy which is a major characteristic of the country. He also observed that in terms of alliances, the 21st century would be about the bilateral relations between the US and India. Bezos’ visit to India comes at a crucial time as the Competition Commission of India has ordered an enquiry into the business practices of the e-commerce majors Amazon and Flipkart. Jeff Bezos committed to exporting USD 10 billion worth of India-made goods by 2025. Before this, the online retail giant had committed USD 5.5 billion investments in India - Amazon’s most important market outside of the US and a key growth driver. We are committed to being a long-term partner of India. And actions speak louder than words, he said.
 
“Over the next five years, Amazon will invest an incremental USD 1 billion to digitise micro and small businesses... Across India, helping them reach more customers than ever before. This initiative will use Amazon’s global footprint to create USD 10 billion in India exports by 2025,” he said. He added that part of this goal is to ensure that more people can participate in the prosperity of India. “We are making this announcement now because it is working... When something works you should double down on it. And that is why we are doing it.”
 
Amazon hopes that this investment will “bring millions of more people into the future prosperity of India and at the same time expose the world to the ‘Make in India’ products that represent India’s rich, diverse culture.” The company had previously said it expected e-commerce exports from India to reach USD 5 billion by 2023 under its global selling programme. Bezos, who began a three-day visit to India on Tuesday by visiting Mahatma Gandhi memorial at Rajghat here, was speaking at the SMBhav summit - an Amazon India gathering for small and medium businesses.