It's time for policymakers to boost regional cooperation

Going forward, a cross-border regional protocol would help strengthen the preparedness for future pandemics or similar disasters

It is now almost nine months since China first reported a cluster of cases of unknown type of pneumonia. The disease, subsequently named SARS-CoV-2 (called Covid-19), has spread all over the world affecting over 32 million people and killing a little less than a million people so far. During this period, most countries, in varying degrees, imposed lockdowns and later relaxed them. Almost all governments took many initiatives to keep the goods moving.
 

Professor Prabir De, head of ASEAN-India Centre (AIC) and Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), New Delhi, has studied various trade facilitation measures taken by