Amazon signs pact with India Post for MSME exporters, introduces digital assistant for e-commerce adoption

Amazon on Thursday said it has signed an agreement with India Post to simplify cross-border logistics for MSME exporters.

Minister of State for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh unveiled a postal stamp to commemorate a decade of partnership between India Post and Amazon at the e-commerce company's Smbhav Summit 2023.

Amazon introduced Sah-AI, a generative AI-based personal digital assistant that leverages Amazon's experience of working with millions of sellers in India and globally to provide personalised assistance to new and existing sellers on its marketplace.

Sah-AI simplifies time-consuming and complex steps such as registration, listing, and advertising support, among others, the company said.

During the event, Amazon also announced its engagement with Indian Railways' Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFC), which makes Amazon the first e-commerce company in the country to leverage DFC for shipping customer packages through freight railway routes in India.

Amazon said it has pledged to digitize 10 million MSMEs, generate USD 20 billion in cumulative e-commerce exports and create 2 million jobs in India by 2025.

''For lakhs of small businesses across India, digitisation can offer economic growth, broader customer reach, reduced marketing and distribution expenses, and access to foreign markets,'' Singh said.

Amazon India Country Manager for India Consumer Business Manish Tiwary said, ''We are focused on investing long-term in physical and digital infrastructure and building cutting edge technology solutions to serve customers and enable Indian businesses to scale and grow in India and globally, thus contributing to India's rising digital economy.

The Minister, during his keynote address, spoke about the ease of doing business, particularly for MSMEs, saying that India is seeing an upward tick in entrepreneurship.

He said India has jumped 41 places in terms of innovation, being ranked at 40 when earlier it was ranked at 81.

The Indian economy is positioned 5th globally, having overtaken the UK and ''looking forward for the number 3'' spot, he added.

Recounting the trajectory of ISRO and India in the space sector, he spoke of the attention and energy given, which eventually led to the culmination of the soft landing on the moon. On the soft landing on the moon by Chandrayaan -3, MoS for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh said, ''Every Indian is looking up with excitement, amusement...there is not only enthusiasm but also a sense of esteem and pride...looking at what happens next.

The Summit also featured a panel discussion on the Impact of Digitisation on the Indian Economy. Addressing the funding winter, Peak XV Partners and Surge Managing Director Rajan Anandan said that there is a comparison of 100 months of investments with that of 100 years.

''Funding levels today compared to 2021 are very depressed... I always tell my friends in the media that you are comparing 100 months of investments with 100 years and calling it a cold summer.

He added that in order to build a global business, an able team is important because ''they can't learn on your time how to build a business.''.

Amazon's annual event for digitisation of small businesses Smbhav Summit 2023 was held offline after two years. The event focuses on innovation, financial inclusion and sustainability for small businesses and consumers.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)