Meta, LightCastle bring AI discussion to Dhaka
Meta also announced the launch of local payments in Bangladesh, allowing businesses advertising on its platforms to pay through bKash, addressing a barrier for smaller advertisers.
LightCastle Partners and Meta brought together government, industry, diplomatic and entrepreneurship leaders in Dhaka for "Agami: Bangladesh AI Innovation Day" to discuss how artificial intelligence and digital tools are reshaping opportunities for the country's small businesses.
The event featured remarks from United States Ambassador to Bangladesh Brent T Christensen and a panel discussion involving ICT Adviser to the Prime Minister Rehan Asif Asad and Pathao Chief Executive Officer Fahim Ahmed.
Meta also announced the launch of local payments in Bangladesh, allowing businesses advertising on its platforms to pay through bKash, addressing a barrier for smaller advertisers.
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Taabeer Ather, Economic Impact Regional Lead for Asia-Pacific at Meta, said AI-enabled tools could help small businesses compete more effectively, but training and support were also needed.
Under Meta's Small Business Growth Academy, LightCastle Partners is training more than 1,000 small and medium businesses in Bangladesh in digital marketing and AI-powered business tools.
Ambassador Christensen said the programme would boost AI adoption and technology skills among small business owners.
The event also presented findings from a Deloitte report produced for Meta, which found that most small and medium businesses in Asia-Pacific already use at least one AI tool and plan to adopt more.
