- Title: Facebook's Zuckerberg defends modern economy at APEC
- Date: 19th November 2016
- Summary: LIMA, PERU (NOVEMBER 19, 2016) (REUTERS) WIDE OF AUDITORIUM
- Embargoed: 4th December 2016 15:56
- Keywords: APEC summit Mark Zuckerberg Facebook
- Location: LIMA, PERU
- City: LIMA, PERU
- Country: Peru
- Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA0035940B47
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was in Lima Saturday (November 19) to speak at the 2016 Asia Pacific Cooperation Summit (APEC) where he promoted connectivity and the norms of the global economy even as they come under unprecedented attack.
Leaders of Pacific rim nations are scrambling to find new free-trade options as a looming Donald Trump presidency in the United States sounded a possible death knell for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
APEC brings together leaders whose economies represent 57 percent of global gross domestic product.
While campaigning for the presidential election which he won, Trump labeled the TPP a job-killing "disaster" and called for curbs on immigration and steeper tariffs on products from China and Mexico.
Speaking at the APEC summit at Peru's Ministry of Culture, Zuckerberg gave a nod to the current political mood, which was also on display with the Brexit vote for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union.
"As we're learning in election after election, you know, even as globalization might grow the overall pie of prosperity, it also creates inequality. You know, it helps some people and hurts others. And we can't afford to leave anyone behind. So we have a fundamental choice in how we choose to address this inequality. We can disconnect, risk less prosperity, and hope jobs we've lost come back. Or we can connect more, try to do more great things, try to work on even greater prosperity and then work to aggressively share that prosperity with everyone," he said.
Facebook has been widely blamed for allowing the spread of online misinformation, most of it pro-Trump, but Zuckerberg has rejected the notion that Facebook influenced the outcome of the election or that fake news is a major problem on the service.
Even at this moment of cultural flux, Zuckerberg sang the praises of increased connectivity and globalisation.
"Research shows that for every ten people that get online, about one person gets lifted out of poverty and almost one new job gets created. So if we can connect the four billion people who are unconnected, we can lift hundreds of millions of people out of poverty," he said.
Zuckerberg was accompanied by Peruvian President, Pedro Pablo Kuczysnki at the summit in Lima. After his speech, he guided Kuczynski through a virtual reality presentation.
The 21 members of the APEC have finished a study for a regional free-trade area but will not discuss it until the next annual summit in Vietnam, Peruvian Trade Minister Eduardo Ferreyros said. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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