Our Bureau

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, on Tuesday, said that decisions that are made in India shape the global discussion about how technology can drive more economic opportunities and better outcomes for people.

In a conversation with Mukesh Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Industries, at a virtual event, ‘Facebook Fuel for India’, Zuckerberg said: “India is a very special and important country for us. Millions of people here use our products every day to stay in touch with friends and family.

“Whether it’s a WhatsApp message or a Facebook post or photos on Instagram. And millions of small businesses across the country use WhatsApp Business and Messenger to reach customers, manage orders, and grow their businesses. And, in fact, we actually test some of our new features here first before rolling them out globally.”

Ambani, who is also Asia’s richest person, also said that India is expected to grow to be among the top three economies in the world and, more importantly, it will become a premier digital society.

“And, our per capita income will go from $1,800-2,000 per capitato $5,000 per capita. Our mid-income or the middle class in India, which is about 50 per cent of its total number of households, will grow to 3-4 per cent per year,” he added.

Jio-Facebook partnership

Talking about the partnership of Jio Platforms with Facebook, Ambani said the deal has become a value-creation platform.

“Before this partnership, I believe, that each one of us was mainly a communication platform. Together, we now have become a value-creation platform for our customers and small businesses, and I firmly believe technology with all the digitisation steps that India has taken, will democratise wealth and value creation for individuals and small businesses.”

“JioMart brings online and offline retail opportunity, and gives our small shops which exist in villages and small towns in India a chance to digitise and be at par with anybody else in the world. To my mind, more wealth creation means more employment and more business,” he added. Ambani added that India has faced the Covid-19 crisis with enormous resilience and resolve, even as the country is slated to be among the top three economies in the world in the next two decades.

“The sheer magnitude of the Covid-19 pandemic, like everybody else in the world, did startle all of us in India. But then I think it is not in India’s DNA to be deterred by a crisis. I firmly believe that a crisis is too precious to be wasted.

“Every crisis presents an opportunity for new growth, and India has faced the crisis with enormous resilience and resolve,” he said.

Zuckerberg, whom Ambani referred to as the “architect of the digital connectivity of the world”, said India represented great economic opportunities and that was why Facebook invested in the country.