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Mark Zuckerberg, Mukesh Ambani discuss WhatsApp-Jio impact in India

On the country’s digital prospect, Mukesh Ambani said he really foresees India accelerating as a premier digital society.

Mark Zuckerberg, Mukesh Ambani discusses WhatsApp-Jio impact in India

New Delhi: Noting the importance of the Indian market, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Tuesday said it is a “very special and important country” for the company, as millions of people here use their products, adding they test some of their new features in India first, before rolling them out globally.

“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,” said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO during ‘Facebook Fuel for India 2020’ event with Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) Chairman and MD Mukesh Ambani.

“We launched WhatsApp Pay in India last month. This was possible because of the UPI system and 140 banks, which made it easy,” said Facebook CEO to RIL Chairman, adding that India is the first country to do anything like this.

Further talking about the Indian market, he said, “So, at Facebook, we like to say that we are in the business of serving small businesses. And nowhere is this more true than in India. This is especially important because small businesses here will be a key part of the global recovery going forward. And we are focused on making sure we build the best tools for them.”

On Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Digital India Vision, he said the campaign has opened up opportunities for the industry to partner with the government to accelerate growth and development through technology.

“And India is building local capabilities and tech capacity, to power innovative new business models and provide Indian citizens access to digital and financial inclusion. So, decisions that are made here, shape the global discussion about how technology can drive more economic opportunity and better outcomes for people,” Zuckerberg told Mukesh Ambani.

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Talking about India’s business culture, Zuckerberg said, “Whether it’s in social commerce, or education or financial services, there is a lot of innovation that happens here, and we are proud to partner with some of the teams that are working on these important challenges. There’s a very entrepreneurial culture here, that’s quite remarkable.”

Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) on Tuesday lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his leadership, saying the “fiscally prudent” PM has led the country to roll out one of the largest vaccine programmes, in the first half of 2021.

“Prime Minister Modi has led India from the front, and while we are not as rich a country as some of our western counterparts, being fiscally prudent, he (PM Modi) has taken steps to take care of our vulnerable…And now we are ready and pretty much at par with the world, to roll out one of the largest vaccine programs in the first half of 2021, under Prime Minister’s leadership,” Ambani said during “Facebook Fuel for India 2020” event with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Regarding India’s COVID-19 response, Mukesh Ambani told Zuckerberg “…if the pandemic had struck India just four or five years earlier, we would not have been in as good a shape as what we are today, with all the connectivity we have. The credit for that must go to our Prime Minister’s Digital India vision, where he motivated the entire industry to roll out broadband in the first five years of his first term.”

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On the country’s digital prospect, Reliance Chairman said he really foresees India accelerating as a premier digital society.

“I see us integrating both 5G…and just yesterday, our Prime Minister has said that, he wants every village and every gram panchayat…India has 680,000 villages, and we have a population of 1.3 billion people, and he wants everybody to be empowered on the information highway with high speed fix broadband, and which is happening,” he said.