Jio, Facebook to open up commerce opportunities in India: Facebook CEO  Mark Zuckerberg

As Facebook is set to take up nearly 10 per cent stake in Reliance Jio, Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO on Wednesday said that both the companies would work on some major projects to open up commerce opportunities for people in India.

Zuckerberg in a Facebook post said that India is in the middle of a major digital transformation and organizations like Jio have played a big part in getting hundreds of millions of Indian people and small businesses online.

"This is especially important right now, because small businesses are the core of every economy and they need our support. India has more than 60 million small businesses and millions of people rely on them for jobs. With communities around the world in lockdown, many of these entrepreneurs need digital tools they can rely on to find and communicate with customers and grow their businesses," he said.

Concurrent with the investment, Jio Platforms, Reliance Retail and WhatsApp have also entered into a commercial partnership agreement to further accelerate Reliance Retail's New Commerce business on the JioMart platform using WhatsApp and to support small businesses on WhatsApp.

Under the plan, the companies will work closely to ensure that consumers are able to access the nearest kiranas who can provide products and services to their homes by transacting seamlessly with JioMart using WhatsApp.

He said that the company is partnering with Jio to help people and businesses in India create new opportunities.

In a video message, Reliance Industries Chairman, Mukesh Ambani said that the partnership will empower nearly three crore small kirana shops in the near future.

"In the very near future, JioMart - Jio's digital new commerce platform, and Whatsapp - will empower nearly 3 crore small Indian Kirana shops to digitally transact with every customer in their neighbourhood. This means all of you can order and get faster delivery of day-to-day items, from nearby local shops," Ambani said.