DGFT signs agreement with DHL to make MSMEs in 76 districts export-ready

NEW DELHI : The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), an arm of the Commerce and Industry Ministry, on Thursday signed an agreement with global logistics service provider DHL to make Indian micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) of 76 districts export-ready by leveraging e-commerce, a government spokesperson said.

The Union Commerce Ministry has been actively engaging in boosting e-commerce exports from the country, leveraging its ‘district as export hubs’ initiative. The goal is to promote and enable MSMEs to explore the international markets through e-commerce channels, a commerce ministry spokesperson said.

Taking this initiative further, DGFT has been collaborating with various e-commerce platforms and other service providers to handhold and hold capacity building and training sessions in the identified districts, he said.

As he signed the MoU, commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal underscored the importance of e-commerce ecosystem, and underscored the strides taken by India to create a digital infrastructure which could be leveraged to encourage MSMEs from rural India to connect to the world market.

DGFT Director General Shri Santosh Sarangi said the objective of this collaboration was to introduce exporters/MSMEs to the digital commerce space so that they get an opportunity to export “Make in India” products, tap international customers and overcome the challenges related to logistics while exporting through the e-commerce route.

“This partnership with the Government of India will further solidify DHL’s commitment to India and aligns with DHL’s Go Trade program to empower MSMEs in the global market,” John Pearson, Global Chief Executive Officer of DHL Express said.

DGFT and DHL aim to bring together a team of knowledge experts to assist Indian exporters and MSMEs in the identified districts through handholding sessions and develop a start-up kit for first-time exporters wanting to go global, the spokesperson said.

Aligning with the Foreign Trade Policy 2023, in the past few months, DGFT has signed MoUs with Amazon India and Shiprocket covering 20 and 16 districts respectively. These collaborations with e-commerce platforms and service providers have helped onboard new exporters; promote first-time exporters, and handhold MSME producers to become exporters through cross-border e-commerce sales under the District as Export Hub initiative, he said.