GLOBAL RECESSION/PROTECTIONISM: KEY FEATURES, (FUTURE) TRENDS AND IMPACTS TO INDONESIAN TRADE & INVESTMENT

Indonesia - 23 September 2020

Trade topics: COVID-19, Economic Recovery, Indonesia, Protectionism, World Trade

This outreach activity was designed in a focused group discussion (FGD) format with scholars and government officials at the Economic Research Unit of Indonesian Science Association. Topics presented include:
■ The twin phenomena of global pandemic of Covid-19 and 2020 global recession
– Covid-19 as the trigger for 2020 global recession
– Current state of affairs: 25+ (developed and developing) countries are in recession now
– Projected worst scenario of global economic growth: a global depression?
■ Implication of such twin phenomena to existing practices of global protectionism
– How global recession exacerbate global protectionism: trade tensions/trade wars,
domestic-oriented economic activities, particularly in trade and investment, growing
political-economic populism ideas
– Protectionist responses to the twin phenomena: slowing pace of trade negotiations,
changing attitudes towards globalization, incipient evidence of protection
– Projection/simulation of protectionist backlash and consequences: macro-economic
effects and impacts on competitiveness
■ Indonesian current situation and state of play
– Winter is (finally) coming, so is recession…
– What and how recession means to trade, investment and business in general
– How the coming recession intertwined with Covid-19? Will it make the other worse (vice
versa)? How to mitigate?

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