Whole-of-the-world approach needed for post Covid-19 recovery: PM
Describing the Covid-19 pandemic as a litmus test for global solidarity, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday said the world needs to frame an inclusive, sustainable and holistic post Covid-19 recovery plan for expansion of trade, business and investment for the common prosperity.
“We need an inclusive, sustainable and holistic recovery plan for shared prosperity. In order to ensure sustainable and equitable order after the pandemic, we need whole-of-the-world approach now,” she said while addressing the Qatar Economic Forum today on the virtual platform.
In her recorded video message, the Prime Minister placed a six-point suggestion to frame post-COVID-19 economic recovery plan for shared prosperity.
The three-day event began on Monday under the slogan “New Horizons for Tomorrow” with more than 100 world leaders, diplomats, academics and businessmen delivering video messages.
In her address, Sheikh Hasina urged the international community to take immediate collective and concerted actions together to mitigate impact of Covid-19 pandemic through expanding trade, business and investment for the common prosperity.
Stressing the need for taking ambitious climate action to meet the goal of the Paris Agreement, she suggested for targeted international support to revitalize global trade and export earnings.
The Prime Minister said that the countries must leverage science, technology, and innovation for closing the digital divide, and have new international support measures for the graduating LDCs to prevent any possible slide back due to the pandemic.
She opined that the host countries, business leaders and investors in the region should contribute to the reintegration plan of migrant workers highlighted as vulnerable group.
Mentioning that the Covid-19 pandemic is a litmus test for the global solidarity as it already claimed millions of lives and battered the economies, the premier said, “The 2030 Agenda, the Paris Agreement, and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda can be the blueprint to overcome the crisis.”
The Qatar Economic Forum has provided us the platform to identify opportunities, and share ideas and solutions to achieve that goal, and prepare ourselves for countering the future crises efficiently.
In her speech, Sheikh Hasina again said that the Covid-19 vaccines should be declared as global public goods and the developing countries and LDCs that have the capacity be given the necessary support to produce vaccines.
Regarding Bangladesh’s measures to fight the pandemic, she said that the government has been trying to make a balance between lives and livelihoods as it has so far announced various stimulus packages amounting to 15.1 billion US dollars.
Despite the pandemic, the Prime Minister said, the country’s GDP growth reached 6.1 percent in 2020-2021, one of the highest in the world.
Her government’s Digital Bangladesh vision helped the country adapt quickly with the new business and work environment triggered by Covid-19, she continued.
The Prime Minister urged the public and private investors of Qatar and other Middle-East countries to seize the opportunities in Bangladesh, particularly in the fields of infrastructure, ICT, renewable energy, light engineering and pharmaceutical industries, and jute and agro products cashing on in the excellent investment environment in Bangladesh and the wide range of incentives for the foreign investors.
Sheikh Hasina also laid emphasis on standing together to strengthen multilatersim against the rise of populism, anti-globalization sentiments and economic protectionism around the world.
The countries across the globe need to ensure peace and stability everywhere in the world as these are prerequisite to expand economic activities, she said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili also delivered video messages, among others.
Source: BSS
