India, an
emerging global economic power, has the potential to become the largest economy
in the world, Facebook Chief Operating Officer (COO) Sheryl Sandberg said
today. Sandberg, who served as Chief of Staff for the US Treasury Department
under President Bill Clinton, said the over USD 2 trillion Indian economy has
immense potential to create jobs and drive growth, especially with its huge
base of small and medium businesses (SMBs). "India has the potential to
become the largest economy in the world. And if you look at economic growth,
particularly recently, jobs is a very hard situation all over the world. From
the US to developing markets, everyone is very concerned about jobs."
"And majority of the growth, as I understand it, is certainly here,
certainly in the US. In most countries, I have visited, SMBs are the way to
growth," she told PTI. Explaining further, Sandberg, whose previous stint was
as Vice President of Global Online Sales and Operations at Google, said
"the answer to growth is entrepreneurship". "Individuals are
creating businesses and employing other people, and in India, the SMB growth is
strong. And Internet provides more growth stories to SMBs. People are
connecting to people and getting more customers and that's what leads to
economic growth," she added. Micro, small and medium businesses contribute
nearly eight per cent of India's GDP, 45 per cent of the manufacturing output
and 40 per cent of exports. The sector is estimated to have given employment to
about 595 lakh people in over 261 lakh such enterprises throughout the country.
India, which is considered as one of the fastest growing economies in the
world, saw its growth rate plummeting to less than five per cent in the last
two years. However, the industry is hopeful of a rebound with a new stable
government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is widely perceived as a
pro-business leader. Modi had also said recently that there is a need to
administer "bitter medicine" to revive the ailing economy. The
International Monetary Fund has projected a growth rate of 6.4 per cent next
year, in line with the gradual strengthening of global markets. Reminiscing her
association with India, the former management consultant with McKinsey &
Company and an economist with the World Bank said she started her career in
India in 1981 working with the World Bank on Leprosy. "And now when I look
at leprosy, it's no longer a threat here. The way I see it, India has grown so
much in the past two decades," she added.
Sandberg
said Facebook wants to be a part of the growth story in India, which is on the
cusp of leapfrogging ahead in economic as well as social development. India has
the world's third largest Internet userbase with over 200 million users, most
of whom are logging onto the web using their mobile phones. "India is
Facebook's second largest market, fastest growing market, fastest growing
Internet connectivity in APAC. It is of high priority for us," Sandberg
said. According to research firm eMarketer India, which has the highest number
of Facebook users outside the US, will account for the fastest growth in people
logging on to the social networking platform this year. Over 100 million Indians
are on the California- headquartered firm's platform, with around 84 million
users accessing the social networking site from their mobile devices.
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