Day 1 : 8 SEPTEMBER 2021

08:15-09:00 Registration

Morning Session

Welcoming Remarks

Opening Keynote Addresses

Keynote Addresses

Special Address:

Morning Tea Break

Session 1: World Projection for Year 2022

This panel session will explore critical factors projected to shake, shift or shape the global landscape, and to what extent these may constrain choices and shape opportunities for nation-building. Which scenarios of the ‘world’ and ‘lives’ exist in the post-crisis era? Scenarios of the world in 2022 are projected in the context of the contest between the US and China – the East and the West – which is still in horizon; the recovery of the world economy after COVID-19 is expected to begin; the rise of nationalism and inward-looking policies that might challenge global cooperation. How will these factors change and impact nation-building in 2022?

12.00-13:30 Lunch

Session 2: Economic Policies for Crisis Recovery and Nation-Building

Since the COVID crisis, countries across the world have been pushed into serious economic downturn. Key questions remain as to how countries can navigate the way to recovery, restore the position to pre-pandemic levels and continue their nation-building efforts. This endeavor requires innovative economic policies that are not only addressing economic recovery, but also strengthening nation-building vision. This challenge is made harder due to the abnormal conditions caused by the global impact of the pandemic. Leaders and experts will creatively address such situations through economic policies and macro development strategies.

• What lessons and experiences can we learn from countries that have navigated well though the recession?
• Which innovative policies can governments take to prepare for future recovery and continue nation-building endeavors?
• How can governments best mobilize and utilize resources to implement policies and manage the recovery of their nation and propel future development?

Session 3: Business Strategies and Management for Organizational Recovery and Nation-Building<

COVID-19 has had severe effects which have transcended industries and national borders. On the one hand, a growing number of challenges in business ecosystems that require new ideas and new modes of operation in the post-crisis era have pushed businesses to find innovative strategies for recovery in a sustainable manner. On the another hand, businesses also need to work in a more synergistic way to help build their nation, moving it into a stronger position with a more resilient society that is better able to withstand future cataclysms. This session aims to address:

• What do business leaders need to do to strengthen business and organization resilience?
• What role should business play and what contributions can it make towards a smarter recovery of the nation and the strengthening of the nation’s resilience?
• How can businesses work together to synergize their respective strengths to move a country forward to new opportunities?

Afternoon Tea Break

Session 4: Digital Transformation and Innovation Strategies for Crisis Recovery and Nation-Building

COVID-19 has brought some positive impacts. Changes in how we live and how we do business have been witnessed. Examples include virtual or remote working, online commerce, accelerating the adoption of business technologies, and, wide uses of digital channels to serve a larger share of customers. Many companies have accelerated the digitization of their customer and supply-chain interactions as well as their internal operations. These normally require 3-4 years to implement but many have successfully made it happen in the one year of the COVID pandemic. Also, some organizations have fully seized the innovative opportunities that come during a crisis to use change to gain an advantage. Accordingly, this session discusses the following issues:

• How could the digital transformation help speed up the recovery in both the public and private sectors?
• What could leaders do to revisit innovative strategies of organization and find new opportunities to survive and thrive after the crisis?
• How to develop digital and innovation capabilities of people in organization and the country with nation-building vision in the light of crisis recovery?

Session 5: Manpower and Education Strategies for Crisis Recovery and Nation-Building

The fact is realized that COVID has necessitated many industries to rely less on people and more on technologies such as digitalization, online-based, Artificial Intelligence, automation, and robotics. Business and government leaders have been challenged to both respond to the crisis and rethink their workforce strategies. The pandemic has created an imperative and opportunities for organizations to reengage with the workforce and reinvent the way a country should manage manpower. Challenges also remain within current education systems in terms of how to best manage our current manpower and nurture future generations. This session should address the following questions:

• What decisions should be made in terms of manpower strategies to strengthen organizations and the country for recovery?
• What would be the most suitable human development policies to nurture future generations and prepare a country for recovery?
• How to balance tensions between preparing the workforce for business recovery and preventative caution of the next pandemic?

DAY 2 : 9 September 2021

08:15-09:00 Registration

Morning Session

Opening Remarks and Crisis Recovery Index and Nation-Building Index 2021

Session 6: Wellness and Health Strategies for Crisis Recovery and Nation-Building

COVID has changed our healthcare practices and the ways in which we take care of ourselves and interact with others. Health measures to control the COVID spread have affected the way we work and live i.e. social distancing concerns, work-from-home policies, etc. While physical distancing has proven effective in reducing COVID contagions, it directly undermines real-world social interactions, networks, and bonds among people. This highlights the importance of wellness which is multidimensional and offers holistic health, happiness, and well-being. In light of crisis recovery, wellness shall become central to development. Promotion of wellness will ensure robust and sustainable recovery from the pandemic. This session then discusses the following key issues:

• To maximise the effectiveness of the health system for crisis recovery, should we prioritise a preventative rather than curative methodology? If so, what is the best way to achieve this?
• What should governments do to create wellness ecosystems to promote recovery?
• How can we promote wellness products and services which are accessible to people from all walks of life?

Morning Tea Break

Session 7: Enhancing International Cooperation for Long-term Crisis Recovery and Nation-Building

The Covid-19 crisis is the greatest test of global solidarity. It has reminded us of the fact that a global pandemic needs global cooperation to manage the spread of the disease globally. Although some effects of the pandemic have impacted nationally, the solution required is at an international level. The pandemic calls for a strong, coordinated, international response that rapidly expands access to tests, treatments and vaccines, recognizing extensive immunization as a global public good, which is available and affordable for all. As the world moves into recovery stage, we demand new smart strategies and responses that will create sustainable recovery. Thus, the session discusses:

• How can we best promote and strengthen international cooperation to ensure the current recovery is fully sustainable and to prevent similar crises from occurring in the future
• What are the most effective international mechanisms to navigate true partnerships for crisis recovery and which strengthen nation-building at a national level?
• What strategies should the business and civic sectors implement to promote effective international cooperation that works for people during recovery stage?

Luncheon Talk Session: Policy and Business Forum: Designing an Effective Tri-sectoral Collaboration for Crisis Recovery and Nation-Building

Without collaboration and cooperation, we are unlikely to tackle the pandemic in a successful way and bring about sustained recovery. Cross-sectoral collaboration between the public, private, and people sectors within a country and cross-border cooperation is necessary. Cross-sectoral collaboration goes beyond knowledge and information sharing. It requires substantive actions rather than merely talking. Leaders and experts in this session will search for innovative solutions and good practices for cross-sectoral collaboration, those which the world really needs for recovery. What would be effective measures, mechanisms, systems, or incentives for recovery that could institutionalize good efforts for nation-building?

Afternoon Session

Session 8: Designing a New Social and Political Contract for Crisis Recovery and Nation-Building

The long term economic consequences of the COVID pandemic have exacerbated the political and social crises that were already underway and this has created demand for a new social and political contract. The crisis has led to millions of people losing their jobs, and many more to fall into poverty. Young people, minorities and women have been particularly affected. This is devastating on an individual level but also has broader societal, political and economic impacts, affecting social cohesion, access to social services, labour market participation, productivity, inequalities and economic growth. Such events and their aftermath can sometimes lead to political upheaval if governments cannot manage the consequences of crisis well. The crisis has also been accompanied by strong calls to put considerations of equity and sustainability at the centre of policy response, both in the immediate instance and in moving towards the recovery and rebuilding phases. At the centre of these needs for change is the call to rethink and reframe the social and political contract as well as the role of redistribution to build a society that works for all. This session deals with:

• What should be the new social contract that truly benefits all people and moves in the right direction to sustainable recovery?
• What should be the political contract that can build unity in society and ensure political freedom and stability to support crisis recovery?
• How can we use these social and political contracts in a way to strengthen nation-building efforts during crisis recovery

Closing Remark

14.00–16.00 Academic Forum Breakout