Responsible Consumption

The COVID-19 pandemic offers countries an opportunity to build recovery plans that will reverse current trends and change our consumption and production patterns towards a more sustainable future. How can we help in tackling this issue?

The rise of globalization saw a division of production capabilities amongst countries around the world. Countries would utilize competitive advantages and specialize in various aspects of productions. Unfortunately, recent events have rendered such capacity mute. The slow down in global production output, rise in air freight costs and increased travel restrictions all indicate a major supply shock. The pandemic has shown us our reliance on international supply chains. It, however, possesses a unique opportunity for nations to capitalize and create the means for localized productions.

Malaysia serves as a true case study of the importance of such measures. The lack of PPE supplies at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic left many frontlining emergency organization’s under-equipped. In a time of crisis, local production partners, logistics providers, and suppliers banded together in an effort to bring localized and decentralized production. Numerous initiatives began across Malaysia in a consolidated effort to ensure the local demands for PPE were met. The success of such initiatives indicated the countries capacity to utilize local production through a decentralized sharing of resources, tools, and expertise.

In an ever-changing economy, with even greater uncertainties, how can such collaborative efforts be utilized and even built upon to maximize local production capabilities?

Proposed Challenges

Proposed Solutions