SsAmazon India on Thursday (8 July) launched its first 'Digital Kendra' in Gujarat's Surat.

Gujarat's Chief Minister Vijay Rupani inaugurated the first Amazon 'Digital Kendra' in a virtual event.

The first Amazon Digital Kendra has come up in one of the most important MSME clusters in Surat and will cater to thousands of MSMEs located in and around Surat, the company said in a statement.

Amazon Digital Kendras are brick and mortar resource centres that will provide micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) the opportunity to learn about benefits of eCommerce and avail a range of third party services such as shipping and logistics support, cataloging assistance, digital marketing services, GST and taxation support to kick start their journey towards being digital entrepreneurs, the company said.

Speaking at the launch event, CM Rupani said, “I would like to congratulate Amazon India for having taken this initiative that will help equip MSMEs with the right knowledge, skills and support to benefit from technology adoption and e-commerce".

"Initiatives like these have a multiplier effect in enabling our MSMEs to play a big role in taking India towards its vision of being a $5 trillion economy," he said.

Amazon India Senior VP and Country Head Amit Agarwal said,"Amazon Digital Kendra will help MSMEs grow their business with adoption of technology and play an even more important role in the revival and growth of the Indian economy".

Last year at the inaugural Smbhav Summit, Amazon had announced three important commitments - to digitally enable 10 million MSMEs, enable ecommerce exports worth $10 billion and create 1 million additional jobs in India between 2020 and 2025, the company said.

"The company is on track to fulfil these commitments and has already digitized 2.5 million MSMEs, enabled cumulative exports worth $3 billion and helped create nearly 1 million jobs in India till date including 300,000 direct and indirect jobs since January 2020," it added.