U.K., Sept. 20 -- Asian businesses were hit early and hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the first region in the world to bear the brunt of the disease, with its impact felt in sectors as diverse as tourism, agriculture and manufacturing.
Although governments and enterprises in Asia had lived through and survived SARS, and thus were pre-prepared in ways the rest of the world was not, the COVID crisis posed many new and unexpected challenges. Supply chains were interrupted, transport restricted and consumer demand affected. It was also the first region of the world where businesses and their workforces had to adjust to the difficult realities of mass homeworking - a test case that other economic blocs were able to learn from.
Once t...