If we all remember the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on us as individuals, it seems that the world of diplomacy and politics is doing its best to block out its legacy.
One reason for this is the way in which the West fell dangerously out of sync with the rest during the scramble for resources, particularly vaccines, to fight Covid-19. The global rush to buy protective equipment was one thing, but the vaccine monopolisation by the rich countries was a real break with the developing world.
Stockpiles in North America and Europe were as much as seven times the demand in those regions. These vaccines then expired while a number of less wealthy countries had little to offer their citizens. Attempts to open up the intellectual property rules to allow fair access to vaccines came to nothing.
Meanwhile the lockdowns in the West were amply underwritten by its treasuries for the domestic population, but there was nothing left over for poor or medium-income countries to do the same.
The popularity of the phrase Global South was turbocharged in that era, when a schism in geopolitics was cleaved out by the stark nature of the emergency. For many there was little left in the tank when the Ukraine war erupted, and the focus turned to the disruption of global energy and food supplies.
Goodwill that has first been broken and then tested to breaking point again is very much the driver of the relationships between the traditional rich and the countries that strive but fail to prosper.
For a measure of the rich-poor gap, it useful to consider what’s on offer from the top table of science, medical research and health care
The biggest test of how to overcome this divide is likely to play out in global health, even if the contested world of war and polarisation is not going away any time soon. For a measure of the rich-poor gap, it useful to consider what’s on offer from the top table of science, medical research and health care.
Last week, former UK finance minister Sajid Javid led the launch of a report on the soft-power importance of health.
He spoke of his time as health minister during Covid-19 and his pride that the UK “pharmaceutical defences” had held in the face of constantly evolving variants. Looking to the future, he wants the scientific and technological advances at the heart of the UK’s offer to the world to properly register with all countries.
Launching the report from the UK’s Coalition for Global Prosperity, Mr Javid’s case was not just built on the record in vaccine research but genomics and exploitation of technology biobanks.
A test is set to come next month, when the World Health Assembly meets to discuss the post-Covid-19 global pandemic treaty. The question in May will be if wealthy countries are ready to accept the same constraints from the rest of the world to thwart the next viral outbreak.
Many are concerned that the promise has fallen apart, with 23 former presidents, 22 ex-prime ministers, a former UN secretary general and three Nobel laureates all calling for an urgent agreement from international negotiators on the Pandemic Accord.
At the frontier of progress, the UK has attracted some of the biggest names in developing world philanthropy.
The Gate Foundation is rightly proud that the effort to eradicate polio has almost reached its endpoint. Its incidence has dropped 99.9 per cent, with just four cases so far in 2024. It is now setting its sights on a malaria vaccine with a coalition of drug firms.
The tools to take on these endemic diseases are originating in the research sector and then rolled out with the backing of charitable organisations and donor countries such as the UAE.
The pharmaceutical life-sciences industry has, in fact, lined up several breakthroughs with seven vaccines in the pipeline. The promise of a tuberculosis vaccine would update a technology that was developed in the middle of the last century and could again transform lives in the developing world.
One reason that poorer countries don’t take an unalloyed view of this remarkable progress is that they see the West as pursuing scientific progress but only giving limited glimpses of it to the less wealthy world. The second is that the debt explosion around the world is a trap for nations that face the daunting issues of climate change.
These threats are all converging and are all seen as the product of an unequal world that the developed countries created. If you like, their pursuit of excellence and the cutting edge of progress has been achieved on the back of the disadvantage of others.
Pushing initiatives to open up medicines and healthcare advances is obviously welcome. But it doesn’t help, for instance, when a country such as the UK cuts its overseas aid budget from 0.7 per cent of its gross domestic product to 0.5 per cent.
As Mr Javid was reminded by former Australian prime minister Julia Gillard, representing the philanthropic Wellcome Trust, the resulting disruption from the UK’s cuts saw real hardship in the most deprived places.
Creating a level playing field in pandemic preparedness or climate-related debt relief cannot be separated from the good that is coming from vaccine progress or new data-led healthcare drives. That being said, it is, at least, something to help overcome the dangerously fragmenting world around us.
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Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
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Sector: FinTech
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- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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Pension funds in growing economies in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East have a sharply higher percentage of assets parked in stocks, just at a time when trade tensions threaten to derail markets.
Retirement money managers in 14 geographies now allocate 40 per cent of their assets to equities, an 8 percentage-point climb over the past five years, according to a Mercer survey released last week that canvassed government, corporate and mandatory pension funds with almost $5 trillion in assets under management. That compares with about 25 per cent for pension funds in Europe.
The escalating trade spat between the US and China has heightened fears that stocks are ripe for a downturn. With tensions mounting and outcomes driven more by politics than economics, the S&P 500 Index will be on course for a “full-scale bear market” without Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts, Citigroup’s global macro strategy team said earlier this week.
The increased allocation to equities by growth-market pension funds has come at the expense of fixed-income investments, which declined 11 percentage points over the five years, according to the survey.
Hong Kong funds have the highest exposure to equities at 66 per cent, although that’s been relatively stable over the period. Japan’s equity allocation jumped 13 percentage points while South Korea’s increased 8 percentage points.
The money managers are also directing a higher portion of their funds to assets outside of their home countries. On average, foreign stocks now account for 49 per cent of respondents’ equity investments, 4 percentage points higher than five years ago, while foreign fixed-income exposure climbed 7 percentage points to 23 per cent. Funds in Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan are among those seeking greater diversification in stocks and fixed income.
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Language requirements will be increased for all immigration routes to ensure a higher level of English.
Rules will also be laid out for adult dependants, meaning they will have to demonstrate a basic understanding of the language.
The plans also call for stricter tests for colleges and universities offering places to foreign students and a reduction in the time graduates can remain in the UK after their studies from two years to 18 months.
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Changing visa rules
For decades the UAE has granted two and three year visas to foreign workers, tied to their current employer. Now that's changing.
Last year, the UAE cabinet also approved providing 10-year visas to foreigners with investments in the UAE of at least Dh10 million, if non-real estate assets account for at least 60 per cent of the total. Investors can bring their spouses and children into the country.
It also approved five-year residency to owners of UAE real estate worth at least 5 million dirhams.
The government also said that leading academics, medical doctors, scientists, engineers and star students would be eligible for similar long-term visas, without the need for financial investments in the country.
The first batch - 20 finalists for the Mohammed bin Rashid Medal for Scientific Distinction.- were awarded in January and more are expected to follow.
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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1.
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United States
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China
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3.
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UAE
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4.
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Japan
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5
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Norway
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6.
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Canada
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7.
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Singapore
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8.
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Australia
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9.
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Saudi Arabia
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10.
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South Korea
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Huroob Ezterari
Director: Ahmed Moussa
Starring: Ahmed El Sakka, Amir Karara, Ghada Adel and Moustafa Mohammed
Three stars
Zayed Sustainability Prize
