UrduPoint
Published Date: Dec 15, 2020
https://www.urdupoint.com/en/business/covid-19-damage-to-global-economy-brought-n-1113724.html
COVID -19 Damage To Global Economy, Brought New Opportunities: SCO
ISLAMABAD, (APP – UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 14th Dec, 2020 ) :Secretary-General of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Vladimir Norov on Monday said that though COVID -19 had incurred enormous damage to the global economy as well it brought new opportunities at the same time.
He was speaking at the inaugural plenary of 4-day 23rd Sustainable Development Conference (SDC) titled: Sustainable Development in the Times of COVID-19, inaugurated by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) in Islamabad, said a press release issued here. Norov said that the digital economy and cross-border e-commerce would play an increasingly important role in rebuilding the world economy after the COVID-19 in terms of achieving economic growth, increasing the competitiveness of economies and improving the quality of lives thus contributing to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In times of COVID-19, global online retail sales were on the rise, and additional jobs were being created, he added.
“The SCO member countries see stability in Afghanistan as a need for regional peace and economic development,” Norov said, adding that Afghanistan shared borders with four SCO member states and its stability was crucial for peace and development of the entire region.
He said that this year’s SCO Summit concluded while finalizing an action plan for the implementation of the SCO development strategy 2025, which focused on the early recovery of our economies from the pandemic.
Executive Director, SDPI Dr Abid Qaiyum Suleri highlighted the key facets of Food Security Dashboard which was developed jointly by SDPI and National Security Division, government of Pakistan and would be launched during the upcoming days of the conference.
Dr Suleri said COVID-19 had negatively affected most aspects of Sustainable Development Goals.
The pandemic had increased the incidence of poverty, food insecurity, diverted the resources from conventional diseases and elective surgeries to COVID-19, and deprived hundreds of millions of students from classrooms, he said, adding that for women and girls, it had turned into a shadow pandemic, and lack of access to clean water and sanitation facilities had aggravated the risk of spread of COVID-19.
“On the one hand, the core agenda of SGDs seems to be compromised, and on the other, there is a silver lining, as it has brought social sector development back on the radar of governments,” he added.
He said now the world governments simply could not afford to compromise on health, social protection, and food security.
Earlier, Speaking at a panel discussion on Setting Pakistan’s Agenda for Universal Social Protection (USP), Federal Minister for Interprovincial Coordination Dr Fehmida Mirza emphasized upon the importance of social protection as an indispensable art of policy making – primarily to build coordination between the federal and provincial governments to remove financial barriers, enhance income and food security, protecting and providing jobs, and delivering social protection by structural reformation to address shocks like COVID-19 and alike.