21st to be an Indian century: Bezos

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.

Amazon to invest $1 billion to help digitise MSMEs

Amazon, the world's biggest e-commerce company, on Wednesday announced plans to invest one billion dollars

(about Rs 7,092 crore) to digitally enable micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and traders across India including manufacturers, resellers, local offline shops and brands.

The company aims to digitise 10 million MSMEs with this investment, helping Indian businesses grow by selling online worldwide and enabling 10 billion dollars in cumulative exports by 2025.

As part of this effort, Amazon will establish 100 digital haats in cities and villages throughout the country. Amazon Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos announced the plan in front of thousands of MSMEs at the inaugural Amazon SMBhav Summit in the national capital.