News Update – Tuesday, October 13, 2020

APCO Worldwide's Coronavirus Beat is a weekly publication on the impact of COVID-19 on businesses, economies, policy and culture, and how leaders are responding. The next newsletter will appear Tuesday, October 20. Next week's edition will also feature the latest results from APCO’s coronavirus reset indicator opinion research.

Have a comment about this newsletter? We welcome your feedback.

Business & Economic Impact

1. With India facing an economic crisis, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is looking to deregulation, which economists say could improve India's economy, The Wall Street Journal

2. According to the IMF, the global economy is projected to contract by 4.4% assuming that social distancing continues in 2021 and local transmission declines in 2022, CNBC
3. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said that they would not reach an agreement on taxing technology giants due to the pandemic, The New York Times

Global Policy

1. While the Asia-Pacific region treads water until a coronavirus vaccine is found, the West's biggest economies are drowning as a second wave firmly establishes itself in Europe, CNN

2. The European Commission said it will extend into 2021 its more flexible approach towards state aid and recapitalization to support companies struggling due to the coronavirus, Reuters
3. Finance ministers and central bankers are meeting this week at the annual meetings of the World Bank and IMF as stimulus recovery plans are delayed, The Wall Street Journal

Control Measures

1. Singapore and Indonesia will establish a reciprocal green lane that enables cross-border travel for essential business and official purposes between both countries, Bloomberg

2. European governments are adopting new COVID-19 testing methods that are better fitted for fast population-wide screening in an effort to buy time, The Wall Street Journal
3. Australia will reopen its borders to New Zealand visitors for the first time since March and allow them to travel to the country without quarantining, South China Morning Post

Worth Noting

1. As the Broadway League announced that the 41 theaters will remain closed through at least May, some insiders doubt a rebound will happen before 2022, The Washington Post

2. Studies by PwC and UBS showed that the collective wealth of the world’s billionaires increased by 27.5% as a result of capitalizing on opportunities created by the pandemic, DW
3. Resistance to new social distancing restrictions is growing in the European Union leading to many new measures being challenged in court, The Japan Times

Stay Ahead: Insights from APCO

Strange Bedfellows – EU and Chinese Dreams on Divergent Paths

Alexander Brown, based in APCO Worldwide's Frankfurt office, and Howard Kwong and Cherry Cheung, based in APCO's Beijing office, discuss the European Union and China relationship as the COVID-19 pandemic continues:

"EU-China relations appear to be at a crossroads and COVID-19 could be the defining marker for a new stage in ties between the two economic powerhouses. Whether an investment deal is concluded by the end of the year will be a strong indicator of how the EU and China will engage with each other in years to come: primarily as a partner or as a rival. Assuming a deal is reached, openings into new sectors of the Chinese market could offer a boon to European companies, and a way out of the economic doom and gloom of COVID-19."

Some Positive News

Success for sustainability: People around the world have been committing to sustainable lifestyle choices whilst in lockdown from changing their diets to going plastic-free, The Guardian
Special Olympics: Virtual events have enabled sports for disabled athletes to continue despite the pandemic, providing training and opportunities for the disabled community, The Washington Post
Promoting women’s voices: Launched during the pandemic, SpeakHer is a new initiative in Japan aimed at addressing the imbalance of presenters at conferences and online events by providing event organizers with a free database of female public speakers, The Japan Times

More Tips from Around the Water Cooler

What CEOs say about employee burnout and work-life balance, The Wall Street Journal
Feel-good messaging won’t always motivate your employees, Harvard Business Review
The tools you need to deal with COVID-19 information overload, Quartz
How to connect with the co-workers you’re missing, The New York Times
An innovative way to prevent adversarial supplier relationships, Harvard Business Review

Quotables

“How will the COVID-19 pandemic reshape the world order? The honest answer is that no one knows. There are many possible futures at this point. The best policymakers can do is to avoid myths that obstruct their thinking and examine alternatives that help them focus on the most important questions. Sometimes estimates are wrong, but it is useful to structure policy thinking in a way that allows leaders to learn from mistakes as well as successes.”

- Joseph S. Nye, Jr., professor at Harvard University

The APCO team is working with clients globally to manage this crisis, and we stand ready to support your needs. For more resources from APCO, including our latest research, information on how we can help or to contact us, visit apcoworldwide.com/coronavirus.

About Coronavirus Beat

Coronavirus Beat is a bulletin of updates and clippings from the most relevant media and government sources created to help APCO’s clients keep abreast of the impacts of COVID-19 from around the world. APCO is supporting clients in managing the issues they confront related to the outbreak. Contact our crisis team at Crisis360@apcoworldwide.com or +1.866.360.APCO (toll-free) or +1.866.483.2726 (outside the United States).

APCO Worldwide is an advisory and advocacy communications consultancy helping leading public and private sector organizations act with agility, and build organizational reputations, brands, relationships and solutions to succeed. APCO has offices in more than 30 major cities throughout the world. To find out how APCO’s integrated services can help your company, visit apcoworldwide.com.