Amazon's Upcoming CEO Announces $250M Indian SME Investment Following Merchants Protest: Bloomberg

Amazon.Com Inc’s (NASDAQ: AMZN) soon-to-be CEO Andy Jassy has assured his Indian partners and customers about his focus on ensuring small and medium businesses will thrive working with the Amazon platform, Bloomberg reports.
Jassy’s insinuation points towards his adamance on tapping India’s market of 1.3 billion people, its most important growth market.
Jassy announced a $250 million venture fund investment in start-ups focused on innovations for small and medium businesses, agriculture, and health care solutions, acknowledging their importance during its annual sales extravaganza in the country.
“Small and medium businesses are the engine and lifeblood of economies,” Jassy said on Thursday.
Amazon’s allegedly anticompetitive practices attracted a protest event from over half a million small Indian business merchants on Thursday ahead of India’s potential amendment of foreign investment rules. The protest sought stricter regulation and regulatory investigation on foreign platforms for unfair practices.
Jassy disclosed Amazon’s plans of aiding in the digitization of India’s neighborhood shops. The company aimed to add 1 million such stores to its platform by 2025.
Price action: AMZN shares traded higher by 1.11% at $3,369.94 on the last check Thursday.