Amazon India Extends MoU With DGFT To Enable Ecommerce Exports

Ecommerce major Amazon India said it has extended its memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) to accelerate ecommerce exports from India.

In a blog post, Amazon India said that the renewed MoU is in line with the government’s plans to enable exports worth $200 Bn to $300 Bn out of India by 2030. Of this, the ecommerce major plans to contribute about $80 Bn.

As part of the latest collaboration, Amazon will integrate its export navigator tool within DGFT’s Trade Connect Portal to help small and medium businesses (SMBs) and entrepreneurs understand compliance requirements for exports.

Under the pact, Amazon will also offer specialised training sessions across 47 districts in the country and establish “expert communities” for MSMEs. In addition, the ecommerce juggernaut will also provide MSMEs guidance on expanding product selection and scaling export operations. 

As per the company, the recently launched Amazon Export Navigator is a one-stop dashboard that helps exporters understand, manage, and comply with regulatory requirements both in India as well as destination markets. The company said that the platform has been envisaged with simplifying exports for small businesses and addressing key pain points such as cross-border compliance, logistics, and payments, among others. 

Meanwhile, “export communities” are proposed local offline networks, which will help prospective exporters jump on the ecommerce bandwagon and enable existing sellers to scale up operations through guidance, training, and mentorship.

The company said that each of these communities will be developed under DGFT’s leadership and have participation from government agencies, third party service providers, manufacturers, export bodies, and other stakeholders. 

“Our continued collaboration with Amazon is a significant step in realising 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…,” said additional secretary and director general of DGFT Santosh Sarangi.

Commenting on the development, Amazon India’s director of global trade Bhupen Wakankar added, “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…”

It is pertinent to note that the MoU was originally signed in 2023. In the first year of its collaboration with DGFT, Amazon claims to have organised ecommerce exports promotion events across 20 districts in India, which offered guidance to over over 3,000 MSMEs.

The collaboration is part of the Centre’s larger “Districts as Export Hubs” initiative. Under this, DGFT partners directly with states and union territories (UTs) and district authorities to establish institutional mechanisms for facilitating exports of identified products and services. The scheme has been envisaged with boosting manufacturing and exports in urban areas while stimulating economic activity in rural districts.