How regional Co-operation helped to Confronting Covid-19 crisis?

Abstract: Covid-19 has government at all levels Operating in a context of radical uncertainly.

The regional and local impact of Covid-19 crisis highly heterogeneous, with significant

implications for crisis management and policy responess. This paper task an in depth look at the

territorial impact of the Covid-19 crisis in different dimensions: health, economic, social and

fiscal. It provides examples of responses by national and sub tantional government to help

mitigated the territorial effect the crisis and offers ten takeways on managing Covid-19 territorial

impact. Finally the paper offers a forward looking perspective to discuss the crisis implications

for multi level governance as well policy makers to consider as they build more resilient regions.

In 2020 Covid-19 affected almost all countries and more the 50 million people around the

world. It was government operating in a context of radical uncertainty and face with difficult

trade offs given the health, economic and social challenges it raises. By spring 2020, more than

half of the world’s population had experience a lockdown with strong containment measure.

Beyond the health and human tragendy of the coronavirus, it is also widely recognized that

pandemic triggered at most serious economic crisis since world war . Many economics will not

recover their 2019 output levels until 2022 at the curliest. A rebound of the epidemic in ailtum

2020 is increasing and uncertainty. The nature of the crisis is unpercendented. This time regional

co-operation helped the affected countries in many ways.

Introduction: Regional development is a broad term but can be seen as a general effort to

reduce disparities by supporting economic activities in regions. Regional co-operation

development. Regional or interlocal co-operation simply means one or more unit of local

government agreeing to collaborate to provide or share some public service, to operate a public
facility, or to plan for their joist future. One type of regional co-operation can be a agreement

between a municipality to jointly provide a public service such as police, EMS or a 911 systems

where such service more effectively and economically provide by sharing operational costs and

revenues, personnel and facilities. Co-operation may also involve the creation of a joint agency

which serves both entities. Regional co-operation between developing countries to improve

transport facilities, Provide a commercial information and pool efforts in such areas as energy

water supply, research and development and knowledge generation can be crucial for the success

of development strategies. On the other other hand, regional co-operation of activities between

member states and when ever possible, third countries sharing the same Marine region or sub

region for the Purpose of developing and implementing Marine strategies. In the time of our

covid-19 crisis regional co-operation helped the confronting the crisis. Covid-19 provides

important lessons About regional co-operation in public health. Despite the challenges of

combating a once in a century pandemic including the yet untold numbers of lives lost and the

economic hard ship that came with lock down measure there is also Much to be celebrated and

upheld. So, It is regional co-operation helped the confronting covid-19 crisis.

How regional co-operation helped to confronting covid-19 crisis?

Regional or interlocal co-operation simply means one or more units of local government

agreeing to collaborate to provide or share some public service, to operate public facility or to

plan for joint futures. One type of inter local co-operation can be an agreement between a

municipality and a neighboring county or municipality to jointly provide a public service as

police, ems, or a 911system. where such service can be more effectively and economically

provided by sharing operational costs and revenues, personnel and facilities. Cooperation may

also involve the creation of a joint agency which serves both entities, such as the charlotte
Mecklenburg planning department, which advises both the charlotte city council and the

Mecklenburg county board of county commissioners on matters such as land use, zoning,

economic development and community facility planning. Another form of regional cooperation

occurs through entities created specifically. For the purpose of providing services to units of

local government within a defined service area. These include metropolitan planning

organization (MPO’S) which conduct regional transportation planning and councils of

Government (COG) whose mission is to promote regional coordination and sharing of

information, plans, strategies and resources.

Types of regional co-operation: Regional cooperation takes number of forms. Types

of formal regional cooperation include preferential trade agreements, free trade agreements,

customs unions, common market, economic unions, economic and monetary unions, full

economic integration and political unions. The literature identifies a number of benefits and risk

of regional co-operation.

Regional co-operation group: Regional organization(ROS) are in a sense, international

organization(IOS), as they incorporate international membership and encompasses geopolitical

entities that operationally transcend a single nation state. However their membership is

characteristics boundaries and dcmocrations charations characteristies to adefind and unique

geography. Such as continents, or geo polities. Such as economic blcos they have been establish

foster cooperation and economic integration or dialoagucs or entities with a restrictive

geographical or geo political boundary. They both reflect common patterns of development and

history that have been fostering since the end of the world war 11 as well as the fragmentation

inherent globalization, which is why their institutional characteristies vary from loose

cooperation to formal regional integration.

 Example of ros include amongst others, the African union(AU), Association of southeast

Asisn nations(ASEAN), Arab league(AL), Caribean community(CARICOM), Coucil of

Europe(COE), South Asian Association for regional Cooperation(SAARC), union of south

American Nation(USAN).

How Regional Cooperation Confronting the Covid-19 Crisis: The Covid-19 crisis

government around the world operating in a context of radical uncertainty and face with difficult

trades off given the health, economic and social challenges it raises. Within the first three months

of 2020. The novel coronavirus developed in to the global pandemic. Schools and universities

were closed in spring 2020 for more than one billion students of all ages. By November 2020,

Covid-19. Spread to almost all countries and affected more than 50 million people around the

world, resulting in the more than half to the worlds. Population has experienced a lockdown with

strong containment measures the first time in the history that such measures are applied on such

a large scale.

Beyond the health and human tragedy of Covid-19, it is now widely recognised that the

pandemic triggered the most serious economic crisis are affected by disruped global supply

chains, weaker demand for imported goods and services, a drop in international tourism, a

decline in business travel, and most often a combination of these. Measures to contain the virus

spread have hit SMEs and entreprinures particularly hard unemployment levels and the number

of aid seekers have increased, sometimes dramatically. Many Countries ``existed’’ virus

containment measures to mitigated the impact of the economic crisis only to face arising wave of

cases in autumn 2020. Jeopardising recovery the exist strategy from the crisis is not linear, with

possible `` stop and go’’ strategies of lockdown until a treatment or vaccine or cure is available.
Estimate released by the OECD in September 2020 indicate the real global GDP is projected to

decline by 4.5 in 2020 before packing up by 5% in 2021. The Covid-19 crisis has strong

territorial dimension with significant policy impleation for confronting it’s crisis. Two central

consideration for policy makers are:

1. The regional and local impact of the crisis is highly asymmetric within counteies. Some region

particularly are more vulnerable ones, such as deprived urban arias, have been harder hit than

others. Certain vulnerable populations, too, have been more affected. In economic terms, the

impact of the crisis is differing across regions, at least in its initial stages. Differating factors

include a regions exposure to tradable sectors, it’s exposure to global value chains and it’s

specialisation.

2. Substantional government region and municipalities are responsible for critical aspect of

containment measures, health care, social services, economic development and public

investment, putting them at the front line of the crisis management. Because such responsibilities

are shared among levels of government, regions co-ordinated group.

The Covid-19 pandemic will have short medium and long term effects on regional

development substantional government functioning and finance. One risk is that government

responses focus only on the short term, longer term priorities must be includes in the immediate

response measure in order to boost the reliance of regional socio economic systems.

Regional Co-operation such as:

 Technical assistance and support service to local economic actors; free or reduce consultancy

service for the business, promotion of webinars and similar training activities to contribute to

business development. Collabarative online platforms to promote ``buying local’’ and regional /

local market places , creating labor pools etc.

 Dedicate measures to support start –ups (which are often the most affected bridge financing,

guarantees, loans, tax measures ,liquidity support, direct eqwty investment, capital risk funds etc)

 Fiscal support: deffering tax and fees collection granting exemption and tax relief .

 Admiriestrative support : Indroducing more flexibility in asnicrestrative proce dures

,relaxing ecrtaing restrinction easing relaxing cerlain restricetion easing , reglualions and

permits required from business .

 Public procurement : eimplification and acceleration procudures. Emergency measures taken

by regional local govermemt cover a Wide Range of areas from Financial Support to More

indirect schems including:

 Financial Support : non - repayable grants, concessional loans at low or zero interest rates,

liquidity loans, facililating access to external financing through guarantees , deferring on

investments .

 Dedicated measures to support start up.

 Emphasis on home diagrosis and care: health care providers went to the homes of people

swspected of being ill with covid and collected samples so they could be tested , keeping them

from being exposed or exposing others by visiting a hospital or medical office .

 Moritoring medical personnel and other vulnerable workers : doctor, nurses caregivers at

nursing homes and grocery store. The coronavirus due to its infectivity, contagious from

otherwise health appearing individuals and high mortality, poses a serious threat to world health
and world economy. The medical community needs to approach the pandemic with agency with

approaches that would not ordinarily be taken with a less urgent threat .

Therapeutics: thus far, the only approach to limit the virus is public health measures: social

distancing, travel bars and quarantines more is urgently needed to combat the virus .some

modalities have been suggested have been suggested including: hydroxychloroquine/

chloroquine, chloroquine plus azithromycine as well as number of anti viral compound, as well

as, morocolonac antibodies. These therapies need to be divided into those employing

established drugs and those new therapeutic entities repurposed therapies should go right into

an efficacy trial given their urgent need. There are a number of adaptive trial design that should

be employed . vaccine therapy: the only approach that effectively terminate the economic and

health impact of coronavirus is developed an effective vaccine. While the virus has may

antigenic targets. Vaccine development for lasting effectiveness may be an issue . given the virus

ability to change antigeneie determinants. Still a vaccine that is effective against this version of

the virus would be a mojor advance. That is only ensure for regional cooperation with the

regional co-operation it is impossible .

Conclusion: At the time, 2020 has been the most challenges year for the region . the rapid

spread of covid -19 has manifested as the worst pandemic in a century and posses and

unpercented threat to both public health and the regional economy. The impact is being felt

strongly across developing asia to help government cope with the impacts of the pandemic , ADS

launched a $20 billion pandemic response, pakage , and approve around $ 2.8 billion in

immediate assistance to the cares region confronting the covid -19 erises deliver economic

stimulus ensure social protection and support micro , small and medium sized enterprises .
Moving forward, given the magnitude of the impacts caused by the pandemic ,now is the time

when we need regional cooperation to confronting these crisis more than ever. We need belive

stronger solidarity and collective action are core for us to conquer the crisis to build a more

resilient regional public health system. There are many are as that could be farther improved . for

instances. Strengthing regional intergrated disease surveillance networks ,establishing

coordinated meehanism to slow the spread of virus across borders . harmonizing health

protocals and standard among countries, and exploring pooled procurement mecharism for

vaccines. To support regional economic revitalized. We think regional cooperation can be of

great help in overcoming the barriers in regional connectivity. To explore the potential of intra

regional cooperation. The wide spread of covid -19 has demorstrated the necessity of our co-

operation to go beyond the subregions .

Reference:

1. https:// blogs.adb.org

2. https:// www.oecd .org

3. https:// unctad . org >news> covid-19

4. https:// en.m.wikipedia. org

5. https:// www .unicef .org

6. https:// www . npr. org