Amazon Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos landed in India on Tuesday, 14 January, and is likely to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other officials. Previous reports have said that Bezos is visiting the country for the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) summit, Amazon SMBhav.
Upon landing in the national capital, Bezos first paid respects to Mahatma Gandhi at Raj Ghat. “Just landed in India and spent a beautiful afternoon paying my respects to someone who truly changed the world. Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever - Mahatma Gandhi,” Bezos said, quoting Gandhi.
The top executive will also attend SMBhav – an event focusing on small and medium businesses in India, which is slated to take place on 15-16 January in the capital city.
Amazon, which has seen significant growth in its business in India, has also witnessed protest from a section of traders in the country who claim that e-commerce giants including Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart offer massive discounts and engage in unfair business practices.
Last year, the government had tightened rules for e-commerce marketplaces with foreign investment.
These rules barred such platforms from offering products of sellers in which they hold a stake and banned exclusive marketing arrangements among other clauses. Following this, Amazon restructured its joint ventures to ensure compliance.
Bezos is likely to discuss regulatory issues in his meeting with the government officials. He is also slated to engage with SMBs during the SMBhav event.
The event, which will focus on discussions around how technology adoption can enable SMBs in India, is expected to see participation from industry experts, policy makers, solution providers and Amazon leadership.
(With PTI inputs.)
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