Zuckerberg told to Digitalize India |
Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked Facebook chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg to help him with his vision of connecting all of India’s 600,000 villages through digital access.“600,000 villages; people get scared just thinking of the sheer scale. But in the next five years, we will be able to link all these villages through a fiber optic cable network. He predicted that future cities in India would be built alongside the fiber optic network. Zuckerberg noted that Modi had been an early adopter of social media and the Internet, and asked the prime minister if he knew early that the latter could be used as a tool for good governance.“Stress on deregulation Asked about the ease of doing business in India – the country currently ranks 142 out of 189 on the World Bank’s list of countries most easy to do business with – Modi , who has launched a “Make in India” initiative, characterized India as “a paradise for any manufacturer around the world,” and noted that foreign direct investment has grown by 87 percent since he took office last year. “We have the three Ds: demographic dividend, democracy, and demand,” he said, adding that he would add a fourth D – deregulation.“The government has no business to do business,” he stated, adding: “It is not our job to run a hotel.” The latter remark again drew huge applause from the audience.India provides low-cost manufacturing, a skilled workforce, low-cost raw materials, and a huge market, noted Modi.
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