Prior to the Lehman shock, an optimistic view prevailed among economists and policy authorities in the United States – that a significant economic downturn following a bubble period could be avoided through implementation of powerful monetary and fiscal policies once the bubble burst. That optimistic view is no longer prevalent today.
I am confident that each country in the region is working hard at implementing similar initiatives and finding ways to design and implement innovative policies that will help the younger generation to navigate longstanding and emerging global challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical events that are having spillover effects across the globe thus impacting the livelihoods of everyone including the young people.