Date Published:
April 26, 2021
The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) has set an ambitious policy agenda grounded in regional cooperation for “building back better” from the pandemic.
The 77th UNESCAP session convenes heads of states and governments, senior officials, and stakeholders on 26 to 29 April to take stock of the socioeconomic impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis and scale up regional cooperation in response to the pandemic. The forum will be held online and open to the public.
UNESCAP is the largest regional intergovernmental platform and serves as a think-tank in the region. Its members include ASEAN member states.
A study released in preparation for the forum recommends that countries reject protectionist measures and instead favor regional solidarity to aid trade facilitation and decarbonize industry by shifting to a more sustainable and lower-carbon, multimodal freight transport. To support long-term, resilient, and sustainable development, countries should reorient spending away from non-developmental areas and consider tax reforms to mitigate inequalities.
The study shows that countries have suffered from abrupt economic contractions, interruptions to trade, broken supply chains, and the complete collapse of international tourism—leading to widespread job losses and increases in poverty. With no country spared from the effects of COVID-19, the region’s structural weaknesses are more visible now than ever before.
The report proposes a five-point policy agenda for emerging stronger from the crisis and for long-term sustainability:
- Enhance regional cooperation.
- Build universal social protection along the life course.
- Invest in sustained recovery.
- Promote trade facilitation, digitalization, and harmonization, and fully embed social and environmental concerns into global supply chains.
- Safeguard environmental health.