By Omar ACHY

Freitas, who is a visiting professor of International Law and International Relations at China Foreign Affairs University in Beijing, underlined in an interview with MAP the importance of the measures taken by Morocco to curb the spread of the virus and mitigate its repercussions.

"HM King Mohammed VI once again provided the necessary leadership to deal with a crisis", he pointed out, noting that the national emergency fund for health spending is a wise choice.

Economic measures to ease the impact of such crises are essential for dealing with such situations, de Freitas noted, adding that measures that secure economic stability domestically will secure regional stability and should be followed in the region to ensure that the devastation caused by COVID-19 is contained.

The most significant impact of COVID-19 is the uncertainty it has generated in the world, he said, adding that "we do not know even whether the containment measures adopted are genuinely effective or whether the virus could get more robust."

"As to the economic policies implemented, they use previous formulas to address the pandemics, not taking into consideration that human behaviour should change and we need to change the economic models under which we live," he said.

"We are fighting against an invisible enemy with governments completely unprepared to address the challenges imposed," he stated.

"We still do not know even if the second wave would be greater than the first," he said, adding that this level of uncertainty leads to lower investments, lower entrepreneurship and decreased willingness to take risks.

This scenario presents the perfect storm for stretching the recession curve from a V to a U, he noted.

In order to avoid this, Governments need to deregulate and make business easier, said the Professor of the Armando Alvares Penteado Foundation in Sao Paulo.

"China has to resume consumption. The world relies on Chinese consumption to boost and reignite the world economy. Only China can do it since it currently has the size and the money necessary to do that," he went on.

Coronavirus has been transformed into a political issue, not a healthcare concern, de Freitas noted, adding that as a result of this, "we have observed a smear campaign involving all sorts of conspiracy theories."

The electoral calendar in the United States has undoubtedly added much fuel to the combustion, he said.

Nonetheless, globalisation is not a problem, according to him.

"The real issue is that governments are not prepared to deal with any significant crises. A closer look at history would provide empirical evidence that pandemics are a constant factor in the history of humankind. Governments, however, have lost themselves in domestic, useless political debates and have abandoned their most important functions which would secure the welfare of their citizenry. This healthcare crisis is the most unequivocal evidence of this situation", he said.

Wealthier countries should be able to recover quicker, he said, adding that the hope is that their quick recovery should trickle down and support the less wealthy to reignite their economies.

"The greatest challenge is that in times of crisis, the least prepared and in most need are the ones which will suffer the most," he pointed out.