Dialogue Plenary: COVID-19 Challenges for SDGs and Human Development
- Climate change is a global challenge. It is an issue that requires solutions that are coordinated at the international level and international cooperation to help countries move toward a low-carbon economy.
- Governments, especially in developing countries like Pakistan, must collaborate and engage with the private sector (specifically oil and gas companies) given long-term economic gains that can come from clean energy.
- Moving towards digitalisation in post-COVID-19 world is vital for boosting economic growth. Services like e-banking and online healthcare systems are important for now and even more so for the future.
- Pakistan should train and produce skilled human resource needed in countries like Japan.
- International cooperation between various institutes and stakeholders like The World Bank, UNICEF, WHO, ILO, IMF is required to tackle the pandemic and unite irrespective of political differences.
- Countries in South Asia should put aside political differences to increase trade and investment in food and energy; and sharing water resources.
- Pakistan, being an agrarian economy, must devise new technology-friendly agricultural systems to increase productivity and export food commodities abroad as per international standards.
- There is a need to minimize the direct interaction between taxpayers and tax collectors for tax collection reforms.
- Reforms in Pakistan’s civil services need to focus on rewarding employees according to their performance rather than promotions on seniority basis.
