Forum redefines new economy

[Sponsored Article]

Covid-19 is both a crisis and an opportunity to move towards a new economy as the global pandemic measures have accelerated the growth of digital technology.
However, as global economies seek to bounce back from the crisis, it’s time to step up efforts to nurture innovation, and leverage partnerships and hubs like Chengdu, Hong Kong and Singapore, said experts at the inaugural Global Innovation and Technology Forum.

“The people of the world cannot afford deglobalisation without suffering downgrades in their living standards,” C.Y. Leung, vice-chairman, National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, and former chief executive, Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, said during his keynote speech.

“While the world recognizes that the next phase of economic growth will be driven by innovation and technology, by comparison to – for example –trade, the globalisation of innovation and technology has been constrained,” he remarked.

He reckoned that there are political, legal and policy barriers which in turn restrict economic and social development. To address this, he urged the world to break down national silos and facilitate better international collaboration on a global scale.

Covid-19 and the new normal 

Hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, the International Monetary Fund said emerging Asian economies are the only region with anticipated GDP growth – albeit by a mere one per cent – in 2020, while the rest of the world has negative growth.

Another keynote speaker, Dr Beh Swan Gin, chairman, Singapore Economic Development Board, Singapore Government, said that the economic impact of measures to contain Covid-19 has led to rising nationalism in many countries and is tempting some to raise barriers to investment and trade.