JANUARY 17, 2020
CEO of Amazon Jeff Bezos – SAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP via Getty Images
Amazon founder and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos held a closed-door meeting with top industry honchos during the third day of his visit in Mumbai on Friday, CNBC TV 18 reported.
The Amazon Inc CEO reportedly discussed issues surrounding technology, data privacy concerns and global alliances with who’s who of the Indian business community.
The business leaders who attended the meeting included Reliance Chairman and MD Mukesh Ambani, Godrej Group Chairman Adi Godrej, Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Mittal, Future Group founder and CEO Kishore Biyani, SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar, Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy and Infosys Chief Executive Officer Salil Parekh.
On Thursday, Bezos took part in another event by Amazon India’s Prime Video, where he was welcomed by several A-listers from the film industry, including Shahrukh Khan, film director Zoya Akhtar, Kabir Khan, among others.
Bezos had on Thursday said he his e-comm giant would invest $1 billion to help bring small and medium business online in India. Amazon India also announced to create one million new jobs in the country over the next five years.
The $1 billion investment by Amazon.com is on the top of USD 5.5 billion funding it had previously announced.
Meanwhile, a day after he scoffed at Bezos’ offer to invest $1 billion in India, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday tried to do damage control saying the country welcomes all kinds of investments that follow the “letter and spirit” of the law.
Goyal clarified his remarks on Twitter as well as to reporters saying some people have misconstrued his remarks by suggesting that he had said something negative against Amazon. “I was only saying that investment should come as per the rules and regulation,” he told reporters in Ahmedabad.
While Goyal had on Thursday raised questions about Amazon’s business practices saying the company had done no big favours to India by announcing a new $1 billion investment, his party’s foreign cell head Vijay Chauthaiwale tweeted barely-veiled criticism of Bezos-owned the Washington Post, which has been criticised by the BJP for its coverage of the Modi government’s increasingly right-wing policies.
Courtesy/Source: Business Today
