Confederation of Indian Industry and Amazon India announce partnership to encourage MSMEs
New Delhi: Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Amazon India today announced partnership to facilitate micro, small and medium enterprises to develop their business further by listing and selling their products and services online. As part of this collaboration, CII and Amazon India will conduct various activities including a series of awareness workshops, road shows, and e-commerce training at pre-identified industrial clusters. These workshops will focus on domestic MSMEs and potential exporters with a view to sensitizing the MSMEs on the potential of enhancing market access by leveraging Amazon’s global marketplace.
The workshops will help educate them about the benefits and export opportunities e-commerce holds. The MSMEs will get access to experts who will guide them to leverage growth opportunities in the e-commerce sector.
Mr Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII said, “E-commerce has played a significant role by lowering entrance costs and barriers to help MSMEs engage in international trade and Global Value Chains (GVC). The inclusiveness of GVC could be greatly enhanced by expanding and extending the benefits of E-commerce platforms to Indian MSMEs. It is also important that key stakeholders work together in creating awareness about the opportunities that E-commerce offers to the Indian MSMEs. To work towards this integration, CII and Amazon today agreed on a partnership to conduct various initiatives to drive success of MSMEs through E-commerce. CII and Amazon agreed to start with a series of workshops in 5 cities in identified MSME clusters of leather & footwear, apparels & textiles, automobile, cycle parts and handicrafts. The workshops will aim at raising awareness about E-commerce and focus on how MSMEs can leverage E-commerce for their success, particularly for B2C exports.”
Commenting on the partnership, Mr Shreekant Somany, Chairman, CII National MSME Council said, “MSMEs are crucial for the growth of most economies around the world and these enterprises make a significant contribution to the national growth and employment generation across the world. Through this partnership, we aim to enable Indian MSMEs to embark on a successful and profitable e-commerce journey that will add scale to their business and expand their market reach. We are confident that the inclusiveness of the Global Value Chain could be greatly enhanced by expanding and extending the benefits of E-commerce platforms to Indian MSMEs. Therefore, it is important that key stakeholders work together in creating awareness about the opportunities that e-commerce offers to the MSMEs.”
Mr. Gopal Pillai, VP, Seller Services, Amazon India said, “ We are excited to partner with CII, and we believe this partnership will allow us to take the message about the benefits of e-commerce to a greater number of small and medium businesses. SMBs are the backbone of our economy, and it is important that they have complete support and assistance in their journey into the world of e-commerce. By listing on Amazon.in, they will have greater access to a larger customer base, offering them a wider selection of products.”
Amazon India has also announced the launch of the second edition of Small Business Day, a specially curated online event celebrating the entrepreneurial spirit, creativity and innovation of small businesses. Small Business Day will start at midnight on December 14, 2019 and will feature products across. It will offer small businesses and micro-enterprises an opportunity to showcase their products to millions of customers and attract maximum sales while allowing Amazon to provide a vast selection to customers.