supply chains. for example, see pulakos, elaine, and robert b. ( rob ) kaiser, " to build an agile team, commit to organizational stability, " harvard business review, april 7, 2020, https : / / hbr. org / 2020 / 04 / to - buildan - agile - team - commit - to - organizational - stability ; " joint media statement of the 8th eas economic ministers'meeting, " august 28, 2020, https : / / asean. org / storage / 2020 / 08 / jms - of - the - 8th - easemm. pdf ; asean + 3 macroeconomic research office ( amro ) ; and " now what? post - pandemic policy considerations, " amro policy perspectives, pp / 20 - 01, july 2020, https : / / www. amroasia. org / wp - content / uploads / 2020 / 08 / 20200720 _ amro - policy _ perspectives _ post - pandemic - policy _ final. pdf. consumer asia covid - 19 has also brought significant changes to various aspects of our daily lives. this has led to changes in demand for goods and services. to exploit this new demand, many firms, including in asia, have begun to shift and strengthen their business focus accordingly, even as they continue their fight against covid - 19. more than ever, companies must be agile in order to adapt to the changing environment and capture new demand arising from the expansion of digital networks, online healthcare and education services, as well as the growth of e - commerce. in the longer term, these business reforms are expected to boost productivity. asia's services sector has long been noted for its low productivity. 2 however, the landscape has been changing dramatically in recent years, as illustrated by the especially strong growth of ecommerce in asia. 3 this is expected to improve the resilience of consumer asia by generating new consumption and investment, as well as increasing wages. c. sustainable economic growth from a longer - term perspective, asia must address its challenges in order to achieve sustainable economic growth. the key to achieving this goal is to work toward realizing an inclusive, green, and digital economy. while this will involve a great deal of time and effort, the rewards are expected to outweigh the costs. there is no trade - off involved between moving toward an inclusive, green, and digital economy and achieving economic growth over the longer - term ; rather

asia, " august 2020, https : / / www. mckinsey. com / ~ / media / mckinsey / featured % 20insights / asia % 20pacific / climate % 20ri sk % 20and % 20response % 20in % 20asia % 20research % 20preview / climate - risk - and - response - inasia - future - of - asia - research - preview - v3. pdf. facilitates financial inclusion but also stimulates economic activity by increasing investment and creating demand in relevant sectors. asia accounts for more than 60 percent of all fintech - related patents filed in the 20 years to 2018, 5 and offers huge potential in the fintech sector. the recent pandemic has accelerated the move toward digitalization. it has become increasingly important that governments and the private sector collaborate to further pursue initiatives to facilitate digitalization, focusing both on developing physical infrastructures and on legal and regulatory frameworks. iii. regional and international cooperation lastly, i would like to talk about regional cooperation in asia. regional cooperation in asia is conducted through various platforms including asean and asean + 3. there are also frameworks such as apec that extend to areas outside asia. in the financial context, the chiang mai initiative multilateralisation ( cmim ), a regional financing arrangement involving japan, china, south korea, and the 10 asean member countries, has made steady progress in enhancing its effectiveness, thereby contributing to financial stability within the region. central bank fora, including emeap and seacen, have also been effective. the covid - 19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of regional as well as international cooperation in implementing appropriate measures in response to economic shocks. external shocks with far - reaching effects, such as climate change, also require coordinated action. going forward, regional and international cooperation will become even more essential. conclusion today, i have discussed the impact and the challenges posed by covid - 19 on the global economy, with a focus on asian economies. many of the challenges asian economies now face are common to the global economy. the issues are wide - ranging and not easy to tackle. asian development bank, " harnessing technology for more inclusive and sustainable finance in asia and the pacific, " 2018, https : / / www. adb. org / sites / default / files / publication / 456936 / technologyfinance - asia - pacific. pdf. however, by overcoming and learning from these challenges