It's time for governments, businesses to work together: WEF's Adrian Monck

Battling the Covid-19 crisis necessitates public-private cooperation more than ever, says Adrian Monck of World Economic Forum, in an exclusive interaction with People Matters

- Mastufa Ahmed

Adrian Monck is a member of the Managing Board of the World Economic Forum. He heads the Forum’s Public Engagement Team, the Global Shapers Community, the Forum of Young Global Leaders and the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship. Monck brings over 20 years of experience as a news executive as well as professor and head of journalism at City University, London.

Here are the excerpts of the interview.

The rapid outbreak of the coronavirus presents an alarming health crisis that the world is grappling with. In addition to the human impact, there is also a significant commercial impact being felt globally. How do you see the larger impact of the crisis to businesses globally?

Businesses around the world are grappling with the impact of COVID-19. Everyone will be impacted somehow, the question is how much. The urgent need for medical supplies, border closures and the drastic reduction in airliner cargo capacity has sparked fears as to whether supply-chains can get us the goods we need. Beyond the immediate need for supplies, questions are being raised about the risk inherent in current supply chain structures. Over recent decades, supply chains have globalized, specialized and become leaner. They are more efficient, less risky in certain areas, but potentially risker in others. Businesses now need to figure out how they can adapt to this crisis, pivot and help where needed and then rebound.

An important part of business resilience is scenario planning. It’s important to map out your supply chain and plan for multiple situations

How can organizations position their businesses to be resilient in the face of this and the next global threat?