In the wake of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic which impacted the global economy and society, there is a need for public and private stakeholders to work together to mitigate its socio-economic impacts.
This was stated by experts from diverse backgrounds on Wednesday during a virtual public-private dialogue on ‘Analysing Government Response to the Covid-19 Pandemic’.
The dialogue had been organised by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) in collaboration with the Growth for Rural Advancement and Sustainable Progress project (GRASP), funded by the European Union and implemented by the International Trade Centre (ITC).
The project aims to analyse regulatory and institutional response by the federal and provincial governments of Balochistan and Sindh during the pandemic and to help augment emergency response to revive the rural economy in the two provinces. The findings of the research were also shared during the dialogue.
Ovidiu Mic, the head of the EU’s Development Cooperation in Pakistan said, “Research and discussions such as these are at the heart of GRASP in order to come up with more inclusive solutions to policy issues.”
“Countering an unprecedented situation, such as Covid-19, requires public and private stakeholders to work together to align development efforts and emergency response strategies to mitigate the socio-economic impact of the pandemic,” Mic said, adding, “There is a particular need to support SME’s which are critical for economic growth, particularly in these challenging times.”
SDPI Joint Executive Director Dr Vaqar Ahmed stated that through better utilisation of provincial budgets allocated for the Covid-19 response, targeting micro and small farms in the formal and informal sector, the inclusion of informal agri-businesses in social protection databases, effective interventions can be implemented during future rounds of the pandemic.
‘’Increasing connectivity, improving primary data collection in rural areas, fine-tuning communication and coordination between all stakeholders in the field and addressing the differential impacts on women were some of the areas that both the public and private sectors can focus on together,” said Robert Skidmore, the chief of Sector and Enterprise Development at the International Trade Centre in Geneva,
GRASP Coordinator Azher Ali Choudry said that the financing needs of the agriculture sector need to be assessed and expedited.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 10th, 2020.
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