On 30 March 2021, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM) and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Turkic-Speaking Countries (TURKPA) jointly organized a high-level virtual meeting on “Cross-regional cooperation in shaping a resilient economic recovery”.
The event aimed at reinforcing the cross-regional exchange of legislative strategies to accelerate economic recovery. The meeting gathered over a hundred parliamentarians and representatives from the private sector, academia, United Nations Agencies and major international organizations and financial institutions.
Opening the event, Hon. Javanshir Feyziyev, Member of the TURKPA Commission on Legal Affairs and International Relations, stressed the importance of international cooperation in facing the negative economic consequences spurred by the pandemic.
Hon. Giulio Centemero, Italy, Co-Chair of the PAM Panel on Trade and Investment, reaffirmed the importance of developing a solid science-policy interface and introduced the speakers of the high-level expert panel.
The first expert of the panel was Hon. Ricardo Baptista Leite, Portugal, Vice President of the Board of the Global Parliamentary Network on the World Bank and IMF, who provided policy recommendations on monetary and fiscal policies for long-term resilience of SMEs and effective vaccine distribution.
The discussion also touched upon best practices for the ecological and digital transformation of national economies through recovery plans. Ms. Battaggia, UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and Dr. Calthrop, European Investment Bank (EIB), underlined the importance of policies that can embrace the opportunities and tackle the challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the current climate emergency.
Dr. Mukesh Kapila, Professor at the University of Manchester and PAM Senior Adviser, delivered a comprehensive presentation on COVID-19 vaccination strategies, expanding on herd immunity, vaccination hesitancy, and vaccine passports.
The expert panel was wrapped up by Mr. Arnault Prêtet, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), who provided participants with a snapshot of the current macroeconomic state of the two regions, and by Mr. Khaled Khalifa, UNHCR Senior Advisor and Representative to the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries, who analyzed the opportunities offered by Islamic Finance in the context of the current crisis.
At the end of the expert panel, Hon. Pedro Roque, PAM President Emeritus and President of the Second Standing Committee on Economic, Social and Environmental Cooperation, and Mr. Asaf Hajiyev, Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC), heartily called for increased cooperation among countries and regions to successfully emerge from this crisis.
The debate that followed provided parliamentarians and attendees with an opportunity to discuss national experiences and practices. Among those who took the floor, there was consensus on stronger vaccination campaigns’ cooperation and better investment strategies, in line with a digital and a net-zero emissions future.
Closing remarks were delivered by PAM Secretary General, Ambassador Sergio Piazzi, who praised the new partnership with TURKPA and recalled the added value of interparliamentary diplomacy in developing inclusive and sustainable policies. In his final statement, the Secretary General of TURKPA, Mr. Altynbek Mamaiusupov, expressed TURKPA’s satisfaction for the new approach, and readiness towards future collaborations for a sustainable post-Covid recovery in both regions.
As a follow-up to this event, PAM and TURKPA committed to organizing a high-level in-person conference on economic recovery in October 2021, in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Parliament of Turkey.