Facebook considers Pakistan a priority

Ties up with local company to assist businesses in current challenging times

KARACHI: In the backdrop of long-standing demand for a Facebook office in Pakistan, the social media platform has appointed a local company as its authorised sales partner, who can provide limited services.

According to a press release issued by the social media platform, it has appointed Dial Zero Private Limited as authorised sales partner for Pakistan. The appointment means Dial Zero can now provide support and market expertise for local businesses and agencies and assist them during the current challenging times when businesses are drafting strategies to thrive during and after the coronavirus pandemic.

“Pakistan is an important country for Facebook and it is a priority for us to invest in the market and to be closer to people and businesses here,” the release said.

According to Facebook Director of Emerging Markets for Asia-Pacific Jordi Fornies, the expertise and market insights of its authorised sales partner can help Facebook provide better support for businesses and agencies to help them grow and unlock their true potential.

In comments to The Express Tribune, Awami Web Co-founder Nouman Younas termed it good news because it seemed like Facebook had inaugurated its sales department in Pakistan. However, he was sceptical about troubleshooting because people might have countless problems like pages of their businesses could be disabled.

“If somebody’s advertisement account gets restricted, it is uncertain whether it will be dealt with in Pakistan or not,” he asked.

He urged Facebook to open a local complaint centre where people could register their queries and also hire staff who could communicate in local languages or at least in Urdu. Although at present Facebook helps arrange a call with its officials, the language of communication is English and the situation becomes worse when the person contacting them is from some Far Eastern country whose accent is difficult to understand, he pointed out.

Another Awami Web Co-founder Mubashir Mahmood lamented that Facebook did not allow Pakistani admins to get their pages verified which could be an additional mark of trust by the social media platform.

“Currently, the entrepreneurs who want to get their pages verified need to have an admin from one of the listed foreign countries.”

He regretted that not everyone could contact relevant people in those countries and secondly there would be trust issues with people from foreign countries.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 2^nd, 2020.

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