The New Facebook Marketplace Features for Pakistanis

Following Amazon’s recent move to improve online shopping in Pakistan, Facebook has created new opportunities for small online Pakistani run businesses to flourish on the platform.

According to the PM on Commerce, Razak Dawood:

“I am happy to see that after Amazon, Facebook has recently launched Marketplace for Pakistan, It will encourage small entrepreneurs to sell online; such opportunities during Covid-19 could be a lifeline for micro enterprises.”

The Jack of Digital CEO, Faisal Sheikh, told the media that Facebook has recently presented a number of small Pakistanis business owners with new paths to take their businesses. According to Faisal, the new initiative by Facebook not only helps small businesses in Pakistan, but helps businesses internationally as well.

Through the new marketplace, local customers are given easy access to products sold in other countries, and are given access to more widely available payment solutions. In the past, Amazon and Facebook were platforms that were limited to US Dollar, proving to be quite troublesome for Pakistan locals. However, since the most recent updates, locals are now able to pay in Pakistani Rupees.

Faisal has also added that yet another benefit stemming from the increased support for online shopping in Pakistan is that the government may now collect taxes, such as GST, from online sellers. As of writing, the Pakistan government is only able to collect taxes from businesses that have local offices or Pakistan based partners.

By providing online sellers with much easier access to online shopping, they are able to enhance not only themselves as business owners, but are able to enhance the online platform as well. With the increase in online businesses, large market platforms may also open a number of offices wherein small business owners can talk and request help in their native languages.

Moreover, as these help centers would be aware of local issues and happenings, they will be able to provide more effective and accurate solutions.

On a related note, the expansion of the online Marketplace will allow women to contribute to the economy without partaking in extensive physical work.

The Adviser to the Prime Minister of Pakistan for Commerce and Investment, Razak Dawood, noted that the new initiative to boost the online marketplace in Pakistan will prove to be very beneficial to female entrepreneurs, especially to those who wish to buy and sell products amongst friends, family, and networks.