International Business Reacts in Unity to Corona Pandemic

Times like these, more than ever, require global solutions for global challenges. The international business community (Business20, Global Business Coalition, ICC and Business at OECD), as well as the G7 and G20, have swiftly agreed upon joint statements and initiatives in response to the coronavirus. The Global Business Coalition (GBC) put forward a set of recommendations on stabilizing global trade and supply chains.

In a joint statement, the GBC calls for measures to ease the effects of the coronavirus on global supply chains. The GBC asserts the decisive role of the air cargo industry at the current time, ensuring that time-critical shipments of medical care equipment reaches its destination safely and on time. The GBC advocates a global standard for air cargo workers to guarantee that cross-border work during the crisis can be carried out smoothly.

The GBC published an additional statement consisting of fundamental recommendations to the G20 in overcoming the corona crisis. While this set of measures should be adapted to the national circumstances of each country, the G20 should continue to inform each other and coordinate their planned next steps. The measures include:

  • Temporary tax credits,
  • Short-term measures to support corporate financial liquidity,
  • Measures to stabilize financial institutions and financial markets.

In a third joint statement the GBC focused on global supply chains, with a focus on medical supplies and medicines. The Coalition called for measures intended to guarantee the flow of global supply chains of life-saving products and services as well as the free flow of goods. International coordination remains indispensable. The GBC advocates for:

  • Measures incentivizing local production and capacity increase,
  • Expediting voluntary cooperation in technology and knowledge transfer,
  • Strengthening of international collaboration in investment,
  • Establishing a coalition bringing together governments, multilateral organizations, NGO and the business community, in order to support global provision of relevant products and services to fight the corona crisis.

 

Related Links

up