The governments must start building economic infrastructure to strengthen international trade to support steady and inclusive (global economic) recovery, according to a top official of the Qatar Financial Center (QFC).
“Preparing for the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic is equally important to the strict containment measures,” QFC Authority chief executive Yousuf Mohamed al-Jaida said in the joint declaration of the World Alliance of International Financial Centers (WAIFC), in which the QFC is a member.
In this course of action, trade is an integral component of global economic recovery, and governments, working with organisations such as WAIFC, must start building economic infrastructure that supports steady and inclusive recovery, said al-Jaida, who is also a board member of the Brussels-based WAIFC.
The WAIFC is a non-profit association registered in Belgium, representing 17 leading international financial centres from four continents. Its members are city governments, associations, and similar institutions developing and promoting their financial centres.
The joint declaration said countries must avoid the “self-defeating lure of protectionism” and work together to open trade and investment constructively and sustainably for the economies.
The world’s leading financial centers assured their part in mitigating the current crisis and preparing for an economic recovery.
“The international financial centres will play a vital role in getting the world’s economy back on its feet as well as in serving the real economy and society as a whole in the post-crisis,” the declaration said.
Stressing that in the short term, resilience is critical; it said entrepreneurs and startups should be supported with emergency funds, small and medium enterprises should have access to public and private funds, and the financial industry should support the working population.
In the medium term, countries need to scale up investments and continue to develop digital infrastructures, the declaration said.
“In the long run, it is essential that we reconsider our economic models and give a new priority to long-term perspectives, innovative business models, sustainable economies, and environmental and social considerations,” it said.
WAIFC chairman and Paris Europlace chief executive Arnaud de Bresson said this crisis would change the business model for the coming years as new priorities are (set) to accelerate solidarity, as well as the development of innovation.
“The financial industry is part of the solution to accompany the financing of corporates, as well as to develop sustainable finance and the development of new technologies. With WAIFC, international financial centers are accelerating their cooperation to fix new objectives and share their best practices,” he said.
Abdullah al-Salmi, who is a member of WAIFC and executive vice president of the Capital Market Authority is of the view that this crisis has created an opportunity for financial centres to work more closely than ever before to help a rapid and comprehensive (global economic) recovery.