DUBAI: Global social online network, Facebook has announced the opening of its first Middle East and North Africa (Mena) sales office in Dubai.

Based in Dubai, Facebook’s Mena team will work with brands across the region to help them harness the power of the world’s largest social network, it was revealed during a press conference in Dubai on Wednesday.

At a media launch event, Joanna Shields, Facebook’s Vice President and Managing Director for Europe, Middle East and Africa,

said the network has some 45 million users in the Mena region, adding that the Facebook’s first office in the region was to ‘share our experience.’

She welcomed the announcement: “The opening of Facebook’s Dubai office — our first in the Middle East — marks an important milestone for us and our local partners.

“We already have strong partners in the region that are using Facebook in innovative ways to achieve and realise the power of social” network, said Jonathan Labin who will be heading the new office.

He named several advertising clients in the region, including Dubai’s Emirates Airlines and Doha-based Al-Jazeera television.

Facebook, which boasts 901 million monthly active users, was recently listed on the US Nasdaq stock exchange, but its shares have tumbled since then. On Tuesday, Facebook shares closed with a loss of 9.68 per cent at $28.82, dropping below $30 for the first time and ending down more than 24 percent from its offering price of $38 on May 18.