Zuckerberg: "Global connectivity is the key to a better future"

"Connecting everyone can take hundreds of millions of people out of poverty," said the executive director of Facebook at the Leaders' Summit of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum in Lima.

   Global connectivity is the key to a better and more prosperous future, and will allow "unthinkable" advances in education, health, security and economic prosperity, said Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Saturday. In a keynote address to the more than 1,500 businessmen and political leaders present at the Leaders Summit of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) in Lima, Zuckerberg spoke about his vision of the future and the possibilities that the use of the Internet and the new technologies offer the world.

   In a message full of optimism, Zuckerberg pointed out that current generations live in "an era for greatness", but to "achieve bigger things and greater prosperity" the option is "to work to unite all and connect." "I am an optimist, and also a realist of how difficult this will be," said Zuckerberg, who pointed out that for global connectivity to be successful, everyone has to have the same opportunities and for that, investments and political will must be increased.

In this regard, he recalled that "half of the world's population is not connected to the Internet" and pointed out that according to some studies "out of every 10 people who enter the internet, one comes out of poverty". "Connecting everyone can lift hundreds of millions of people out of poverty, if we want our children to have a better personalized education, that scientists have access to all the information to cure diseases, and if we have a way to protect ourselves from threats. , connecting everyone is important, "he said.

But to achieve this goal we must put an end to existing barriers, such as the lack of access to the Internet, which affects 1.5 billion people, the ability to pay for those services or the lack of awareness of the importance of connecting. "Talent is distributed throughout the world, opportunities are not," he concluded