EMERGING MARKET TRENDS 2021
Global Cooperation and vaccine co-operation are driving up economies
Vaccine cooperation and financial assistance helped meet pandemic challenges
Following on from a year in which supply chains and international travel were severely disrupted, 2021 saw an increase in global cooperation, as institutions, businesses and governments alike sought to work together to find solutions to some of the world’s major challenges, states a latest report from the Oxford Business Group.
T
he onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020 had a dramatic effect on global connectivity. The implementation of border restrictions greatly disrupted the provision of goods and made cross-border travel extremely difficult. In order to adapt to these challenges, many governments, businesses and institutions moved towards a strategy of regionalisation. Meanwhile major economies announced the launch or extension
32 JANUARY 2022
of global infrastructure plans such as US President Joe Biden’s ‘Build Back Better Mega Infrastructure Plan) whilst the COP26 (the 12-day 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Glasgow, Scotland between 31 October to 12 November 2021) and the global tax rate were examples of successful global diplomacy For example, in April 20020 the foreign ministers of ASEAN’s 10 member states endorsed several collective initiatives to fight the pandemic, including the establishment of a common
Covid-19 fund to enable a rapid response to medical emergencies. In the same month, the GCC agreed to establish a food supply network to safeguard the region from food insecurity.
Vaccine cooperation
However, while 2020 was marked by a trend towards regional solutions, 2021 has witnessed expanded global cooperation, as governments and international institutions collaborated on initiatives designed to help countries recover from the impacts