Decisions made in India shape global discussions about how technology can drive more economic opportunity and better outcomes​​: Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook

• Facebook organized its first-ever Fuel for India event, the first edition this year is happening virtually.
• During the conversation, Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani, Chairman & Managing Director, Reliance Industries and Mark Zuckerberg, Founder, Chairman & CEO, Facebook spoke about the work Facebook has been doing to help small businesses in the country and also about the future of the partnership between the two organizations.

In a conversation with Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani, Chairman & Managing Director, Reliance Industries, Mark Zuckerberg, Founder, Chairman & CEO, Facebook spoke about the organization's commitment towards India. The conversation was a part of Facebook's first-ever Fuel for India event.

"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 its 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 Zuckerberg during the virtual event.

He further added that Prime Minister Modi's Digital India Vision had 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.

During the talk, Zuckerberg spoke about the role India plays for Facebook in the global scheme of things. "What happens in India is important for the whole world. India's building local capabilities and tech capacity to power innovative new business models and provide the citizens access to digital 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."

The two leaders also spoke about the importance of the partnership between Facebook and Reliance. "One of the big opportunities I see with the partnership with Jio Platforms, is the role that we can play together in supporting the millions of small businesses in India - especially now with the impact that Covid is having. It is accelerating the move for a lot of businesses from physical storefronts to digital," said Zuckerberg.

"I firmly believe that technology, with all the steps that India has taken will democratize wealth and value creation for individuals and small businesses. Through our partnership (Jio Platforms and Facebook), we will become a value creation platform for our customers and small businesses, giving them a chance to digitize and be at par with anybody else in the world," added Ambani.