Staff Reporter
Public and private stakeholders need to work together to mitigate the socio-economic impacts of Covid-19. The experts from diverse backgrounds, said this while sharing their views at virtual public private dialogue ‘Analyzing Government Response to the Covid-19 Pandemic’ organized by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), here on Wednesday.
The dialogue was held 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), and it was aimed to analyze the regulatory and institutional response by the federal and provincial governments of Balochistan and Sindh during Covid-19, and to help augment emergency response to revive the rural economy in the two provinces.
The findings of the research on regulatory and institutional response of Balochistan and Sindh during Covid-19, were also shared on the occasion with key stakeholders and policy makers. The event brought together key influencers and policy makers, who participated in a meaningful debate on the institutional, regulatory, and government response in the wake of pandemic, and how the rural economy could be assisted to recover from its adverse effects.
Speaking at the event, Ovidiu Mic, 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. There is a particular need to support SME’s which are critical for economic growth, particularly in these challenging times.”
Dr Vaqar Ahmed, Joint Executive Director SDPI, while presenting the findings of the study to the participants, stated that through better utilization of provincial budgets already allocated for Covid-19 response, targeting micro and small farms in both formal and informal sector, inclusion of informal agri-businesses in social protection databases, effective interventions could be implemented during future Covid-19 rounds.
