The event aimed at Facebook’s intent towards supporting India’s digital revolution ambitions.
The first edition of “Facebook Fuel for India” officially kicked off on Tuesday. This virtual event squarely focussed on the growth opportunities in the digital space for India. The event also aimed at Facebook’s intent towards supporting India’s digital revolution ambitions. The event was essentially meant to detail how Facebook and its products including Instagram and WhatsApp are being used by millions of people and several entrepreneurs in the country.
The two-day event brought together key Facebook executives including Co-Founder Mark Zuckerberg, Instagram Head Adam Mosseri, and WhatsApp Head Will Cathcart as well as industry speakers including Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani.
Facebook through this event tried to showcase what they call the stories of change in India through the Facebook family’s products and programs currently available in India. For this special virtual event, Facebook lined up an extensive agenda as well as a list of speakers that include the top names in the world of tech, business and policy.
Day 1 of Fuel for India 2020:
On Tuesday, the first day of the event, Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg and Reliance Industries chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani spoke about the immense opportunities that are present in India’s digital space. They also discussed digitisation and the role of small businesses in accelerating India’s economic growth.
At the event, Ambani said that the partnership between Jio and Facebook is great for India, Indians and small Indian businesses. During the conversation, he also added that in the next two decades, India will grow to be among the top three economies in the world. But more importantly, it will become a premier digital society. It will be a modern society with young people driving it, with young businesses driving it.
“India is actually home to the largest communities in the world, across Facebook and WhatsApp and getting there on Instagram as well,” Zuckerberg said. He also added that India is a “very special and important country” for the company, as millions of people in the country use their products. Further, he said that they will test some of their new features in India first, before rolling them out globally.
Zuckerberg and Ambani during the virtual session emphasised on the fact that in April, Facebook acquired a 9.9 percent stake in Jio platforms and claimed that the deal was aimed to support small businesses in the country. To this, Ambani said, “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 digitise and be at par with anybody else in the world.”
Day 2 of Fuel for India 2020:
The two-day Fuel for India 2020 virtual event organised by social media giant Facebook entered its second and last day on Wednesday. On the second day, the event focussed on programmes highlighting inspirational stories and how people evolved using different social media platforms. These stories of inspiration were discussed by the eminent personalities attending the event.
The event on its second and last day celebrated stories of hope, passion and determination. The event also talked about unique stories of people in India, which have inspired Facebook as a company to grow. Stories of the inspiring people, communities and businesses that are promoting economic transformation, exposing creative expression and contributing to digitisation were also talked about.
List of speakers:
Mark Zuckerberg:
Mark Zuckerberg is the co-founder and CEO of the social-networking website Facebook, which he founded in 2004. Mark is responsible for setting the overall direction and product strategy for the company.
Adam Mosseri:
Adam Mosseri leads one of Facebook’s fastest-growing apps, Instagram.
At the recent Facebook Fuel for India 2020 virtual event, Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri said, “At Instagram, we see ourselves as a place where we push culture forward. We focus on young people since culture always gravitates towards young people…We see a massive shift in power from organisations to individuals across industries. And creators are at the forefront of that shift.”
Abhijit Bose:
Abhijit Bose has been the head of WhatsApp in India since 2019. With over twenty-five years of experience in building products and scaling businesses in multiple markets, Abhijit was the first top-level executive to be hired outside of the US by WhatsApp.
Abhijit Bose, during the two-day Facebook’s Fuel for India 2020 virtual event said, “Our aim was to make sending money to family and friends as easy and as secure as sending a message or attaching a photo. I am delighted to share with you that WhatsApp Pay is now live across the country through our bank partners State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis bank.”
Ajit Mohan:
As the Vice President and Managing Director, at Facebook India, Ajit Mohan spearheads the company’s India charter. During Facebook’s Fuel for India 2020 event, he noted that noted there are more than 500 million people in India using Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram apps.
Mukesh Ambani:
Mukesh D. Ambani is the Chairman & Managing Director of Reliance Industries Limited.
The event also saw the participation of top leaders at Facebook and its group companies and partners. These include Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, Unacademy co-founder Gaurav Munjal, Whitehat Jr founder Karan Bajaj and Samsung India Senior VP Asim Warsi among others.