Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Facebook have announced a partnership to enable Indian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to harness the power of the Internet and social media.

This partnership will expand Facebook’s global Small and Medium Business (SMB) Boost programme in India and provide Indian SMEs with educational resources and free advertising to help get started and grow businesses online. This programme will also aid numerous member SMEs of FICCI in exploring and utilising social media for business promotion and consumer outreach activities.

Announcing the partnership, Marne Levine, Global Vice President of Global Public Policy at Facebook said, “The SME sector has proven to be the growth engine of most global economies. Social media has the potential to drive tremendous economic growth and job creation in India. As we’ve seen in the US and Europe, social media is generating growth in the economy, creating new jobs and redefining how businesses interact with their customers. It is this experience and insight that we would now like to bring to India through our partnership with FICCI.”