Economist: Optimism that world trade will recover faster than the 2008 crisis

A survey of the opinions of senior executives and decision makers in their companies and organizations in relation to trade and international dealings showed widespread optimism about the recovery of trade in the wake of the Covid-19. The study, which was commissioned by DP World to the information unit of the Economist magazine, found that 70% of companies expect trade to recover to pre-pandemic levels more quickly than it recovered after the 2008 financial crisis, which took two years and two months; Meanwhile, nearly a third believe the recovery will be twice as fast as trade returns to pre-pandemic levels within one year. The data also showed that the pandemic has brought about a permanent change in the way companies do business, with 83% of executives indicating that they are reshaping their supply chains by replacing suppliers, or adding new suppliers, through the use of multiple logistics service providers. And / or change and purchase of production sites. During the early stages of the pandemic, closures and disruptions to production revealed vulnerabilities, including over-reliance on specific geographical areas and a lack of transparency about the movement of goods. Many of the world's large economies were in a state of lockdown of varying severity, the state of international travel came to a near standstill, and the supply chains of basic commodities were complicated by the supply and demand shocks they were not prepared for. Despite the widespread economic impacts of the pandemic, 42% of survey respondents said that their companies' global revenues expanded in the first half of 2020. 19% reported no change from the previous year. These numbers are encouraging at a time when only one of the world's largest economies, the Chinese economy, is growing in its movement. Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, CEO and Chairman of DP World, said, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has redefined how to maintain communication between parts of the world and how companies manage their business. Historically, periods of crisis have been a powerful catalyst for innovation. The effects of the pandemic have accelerated the transformation of supply chains and pushed towards rapid adaptation in order to ensure flexibility in global trade movement. The global business community has also risen to the challenge and took strong and decisive measures to make supply chains more robust and resilient, and we will reap the benefits of that in the coming years. The study also found that only 8% of companies believe that recovery to pre-pandemic levels will take more than five years, and less than 2% of them believe that trade will never recover on average, and companies said they reallocate a third of their revenues from the first half of a year. 2020 to reshape their supply chains. A fifth of the respondents said that their companies will spend more than 50% of first-half revenues, and 65% of the respondents said that the restructuring process will be completed within one year; And it's no easy task given the complexities involved in changing supply chains, which are the product of years of investment, relationship building, education and training, among a host of other factors.