Primafila Correspondents Are Taking Stock of COVID-19

Global business intelligence based on regional expertise

After the financial crisis and recession of 2007–2012, the term ‘New Normal’ was coined as shorthand for new rules and practices that had previously been unusual, but had now become commonplace. In the context of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis of 2020, the expression has been revived to describe a broad range of changes in our workplaces and private lives that will certainly be felt for many months to come. Their long-term impacts can as yet only be generally anticipated.

For one of our clients, we commissioned an overview of measures and responses to the pandemic in Germany, the US, the Gulf Cooperation Council, India, Singapore, and Hong Kong, with special emphasis on the communications of corporate leaders. It was compiled by six correspondents from our network, all of whom are journalists with many years of experience in their respective countries and regions.

Unsurprisingly, both the impact of the coronavirus crisis and the measures and responses undertaken by companies and government authorities have been different in each of these countries and regions. In export-oriented Germany, for example, the automobile and mechanical engineering industries have been particularly affected, while mitigation efforts have been hampered by the country’s federal structure and decentralization of authority and responsibilities.

Governments worldwide have been trying to keep their economies afloat with emergency rescue measures, such as India’sUS$265 billion economic stimulus package. However, some entrepreneurs also see the crisis as an opportunity for reform and advancement. Ratan Tata, former chairman of Tata Sons, believes that “The current health crisis is a time to support our own innovativeness.”

In Dubai, the Expo 2020 world fair has been postponed until next year, while Emirates Airlines President Tim Clark is convinced that the next “six to nine months will be tough for the airline industry”. And in the US, currently the epicenter of the pandemic, the tech industry has been rushing to develop solutions for remote working. At the same time, the near-total shutdown of nonessential travel has hit airlines hard, and the steep overall decline of energy consumption in the world’s biggest economy has caused already low oil prices to plummet further.

Even as the impacts of global developments are filtering down in different ways to the regional and local levels, we take pride in our ability to supply our clients in a timely manner with business and market intelligence that is based on the experience and expertise of our veteran correspondents. Based on the reports by the Primafila Correspondents, our customers can better assess the situation on the ground and adapt their planning for the duration of the pandemic and beyond.

Chris Findlay, Senior Editor at Primafila AG, Zurich