Heave a collective sigh of relief as we bid farewell to 2020. A year ago, none of us expected the scale of impact this health emergency would affect us personally, and as a community. Living through it has been a bittersweet experience. We adjusted to this new reality – including working-from-home. But lives and livelihoods were disrupted.

Although vaccines being rolled out in 2021 are a shot in the arm – a promise of a better future – the sense of unease will linger on. And while the power of technology came to the fore – connecting us amid social distancing protocols – the pandemic exposed frailties in an increasingly disconnected world.

Globalization is on the backfoot. The efficiency mantra of businesses has come at the expense of resiliency. Celebrating private enterprise masked the neglect of the public sector. Taking on the heavy-lifting, most struggled to meet the challenge of these unprecedented times, irrespective of a country’s economic status. Across the globe, income inequality has taken a turn for the worse.

Where do we go from here? The outsized role of governments in the Covid-19 response suggests a future of striking the right balance with the private sector – perhaps such as the model that is prevalent in Asia. Our issue this month, produced in collaboration with Project Syndicate, points to what’s needed to move from response to recovery. Mohamed El-Erian, chief economic adviser at Allianz, believes governments must further take steps now to counter the mounting long-term pressures on potential growth

Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Indonesia’s finance minister, describes athis Covid-19 pandemic is indiscriminate and unprecedented in scale and indicates that the shape and pace of a global recovery will depend most importantly on global leaders agreeing on a common platform for driving a recovery that is consistent with the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

As the first economy to report Covid-19, China’s strong response to contain the virus outbreak is accelerating its return to normality in 2021. But as Keyu Jin, professor of economics at the London School of Economics, points out, policymakers’ decision to dispense with a national growth target could reshape that recovery – and how a future built around sustainability may look like.

How has 2020 affected you? And how do you think this pandemic is going to change our future? Share your thoughts. Continue to stay safe in 2021 and as always, thank you for the privilege of your time. At The Asset, we wish you a healthy 2021!