The 7th Abu Dhabi Strategic Debate (ADSD) concluded on Thursday with speakers discussing the various gaps exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic in the healthcare systems across the world. During the third and final day of the debate session, speakers also explored various positives of pandemic crisis, including the employment of innovation and technology in the health sector.

Experts highlighted the problem of lack of certainty in the fight against COVID-19 even as an effective vaccine is being manufactured across the world. Amid the uncertainties in the response against COVID-19, it is likely that the economic consequences of the pandemic will continue even after 2021, they added.

According to Dr. Shoba Suri, Senior Fellow with Observer Research Foundation’s Health Initiative in New Delhi, healthcare systems across the world were not designed or equipped with handling the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic which comes once every 100 years.

She pointed out that one of the most crucial impacts of the global health crisis that needs immediate response is the pressure imposed on the healthcare infrastructure and resources allocated for other serious health problems since the focus has shifted to combating the COVID-19 infections.

MahshidAbir, Senior Physician Policy Researcher at the RAND Corporation asserted that the COVID-19 pandemic has made world governments comprehend the limitations of their healthcare systems. At the same time, it also forced us to improve, innovate and use advanced technologies in the treatment of the patients which were not used before, Abir added.

During the panel discussion concentrating on the post-Coronavirus economy, Professor Giacomo Luciani, who teaches at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, noted that as the possibilities to develop a potential vaccine develop across the globe, world economies are seeking to reinforce their development in a bid to not go back to their pre-Corona state due to psychological repercussions of the pandemic crisis.

He added that growing consumptions and families were encouraged to consume more which resulted in the growth of economic activities over the past half-century. According to Luciani, this resulted in a huge global growth led by countries like the United States and Europe.

Significantly, this model of growth has started to recede as the world is realising the need for reducing pollution in a bid to prevent the degradation of nature and environment.

Adding to these remarks, Dr. Nasser Saidi, the Founder and President of Nasser Saidi& Associates, underlined that the global economy has been hard-hit by increasing uncertainty as the global production has dropped by 4.5 percent. In the first half of 2020, global labour income is also estimated to have decreased by 11 percent, while direct foreign investments have dropped by a minimum of 15 percent.

Dr Nasser Saidi called for realising that the top technology companies in the world including Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft have evolved into major powers across the globe.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the need for bridging the digital gaps between various countries and the need for addressing internal divisions in these countries themselves," he added.

During the session, Dr. Mathew J. Burrows, Director of the Atlantic Council’s Foresight, Strategy, and Risks Initiative in the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, went on to suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to a rapid shift of the gravity centre of the global economy to East Asia. This happened with the increasing capabilities of China to tackle the pandemic crisis even after it was the first country to be hit by the outbreak, which Dr Burrows described as "striking".

"GCC countries can benefit from the pandemic given the increasing interest in oil supplies to restore global growth," he added.

Dr. Zaid Eyadat, the Director of the Center for Strategic Studies at the University of Jordan, also underscored that the Coronavirus pandemic has raised the significance of supply chains as a part of national power, adding that the nations that were earlier dependent on China’s chains of supply will have to move to more local and regional resources of supplies for fulfilling their requirements.

At the final session of the 7th ADSD, Emirates Policy Center President Dr.Ebtesam Al Ketbi presented the summary and conclusion that speakers illustrated throughout the eight discussion panels over the three days.

WAM