New Delhi: Facebook is followed and used by lakhs and millions of people across the globe yet India features prominently in the social media giant’s list of things.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, in a candid admission on Tuesday, revealed why India remains a “very special and important country” for the company. He said that the company often tests some of their new features here 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, Zuckerberg 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.”
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.”
