Facebook launches new monetization feature for Pakistani features

Global social media giant Facebook on Saturday announced a new monetization feature for Pakistanis called ‘Stars’.

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari announced the new feature in a video message from the offices of Facebook’s parent company, Meta, in Singapore.

Bilawal has been visiting the tiny state in south Asia on Meta’s invitation. It makes him the first-ever Pakistani foreign minister to visit the social media giant’s offices.

In his video, Bilawal said that he was visiting their office because Pakistan, as a country with the world’s fifth-largest population in the world needs to speak with a company whose 2 billion daily active users - if considered a country, would make it the most populous country in the world.

“We want the Pakistani people to benefit from these platforms,” he said.

Team Meta is working in Pakistan. They are investing in Pakistan and providing Pakistani people opportunities – not just for women to use technology to do business, youngsters are being taught to use the platform.

Giving details of the ‘Stars’ feature, he said that those using Facebook and Instagram to create content would be able to earn based on how many stars they receive or can accumulate.

“The more the monetization process progresses, the more opportunities there will be for Pakistanis to earn and improve their economic situation,” he said.

The foreign minister added that Meta has also helped in times of great emergency for the country, whether during the Covid-19 era or during recent floods.

The program will contribute to the capacity building of young entrepreneurs as a valuable tool for Pakistan in growing the number of Meta content developers.

Singapore visit

Bilawal traveled to Singapore for a two-day trip on December 8-9.

During the trip, he met with Singapore’s President Halimah Yacob. In addition, he held a breakfast meeting with his counterpart Foreign Minister Dr Vivian Balakrishnan.

During his meetings with President Yacob and Foreign Minister Balakrishnan, Bilawal emphasized the importance accorded by Pakistan to its relations with Singapore, which is a crucial partner in ASEAN.

In the meeting with President, the two sides welcomed the steady progress in multi-dimensional bilateral relations based on mutual trust and understanding. They expressed a strong desire and resolved to further consolidate cooperation in diverse fields.

The two Foreign Ministers noted the importance of regular interaction and dialogue, exchange of high-level visits and promoting people-to-people contacts.

They agreed to unlock the potential for economic cooperation and collaboration in agriculture, the digital economy and digital finance.

They exchanged views on the regional situation and agreed to stay engaged to promote mutually beneficial cooperation.