GLOBALIZATION IN THE TIME OF COVID-19; REPOSITIONING THE
PHILIPPINES TO MEET THE IMMEDIATE AND REMOTE CHALLENGES OF
THE FUTURE
The COVID-19 pandemic has ushered in a new climate of uncertainty which
is fueling protectionism and playing into nationalist narratives. Globalization is under
significant threat as governments scramble to reduce their vulnerability to the virus
by limiting global trade and flows of people. With the imposition of border closures
and strict migration measures, there have been major disruptions in Philippines'
global supply chains with adverse impacts on employment and poverty.
Globalization has emerged as a means to ensure economic and cultural
growth of individuals. The rise in urbanization and the closer integration of the world
economy has facilitated global interconnectedness. Yet, trade and travel, essential
components of globalization, are significant contributors to the spread of infectious
diseases.
Pandemics affect the economy in terms of demand and supply. First,
consumers and investors tend to lose confidence in marketplaces affected by the
pandemic, depreciating the demand side of the market. Second, absenteeism and
reduction in the workforce negate the supply side. Lastly, public health and
international response to pandemics affect economics and development policies in
trade, travel, and health response.
A pandemic can also affect the economy in terms of decelerating the
economic growth of affected countries, leading to a reduction in trade and increase
in poverty
The current pandemic crisis also presents an opportunity to explore new
strategies for diversifying Philippine economies by promoting trade and a more
regionalized (continental) form of globalization.
Maintaining cross-border trade and cooperation could potentially maintain
some financial resources for assisting Philippines to fight the pandemic, although an
overhaul of trade agreements to ensure equitable gains and ecological sustainability
is more likely to be a post-pandemic undertaking. In the nearer term, other countries
could unite in collectively reducing their tariffs on all medical supplies related to
COVID-19 and regulating their domestic prices.
Rapid adoption of digital technologies can help the Philippines overcome
the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, recover from the crisis, and achieve its vision
of becoming a middle-class society free of poverty, according by the World Bank
and the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).
The use of digital technologies such as digital payments, e-commerce,
telemedicine, and online education, is rising in the Philippines and has helped
individuals, businesses, and the government cope with social distancing measures,
ensure business continuity, and deliver public services during the pandemic.
This pandemic has caused substantial disruptions in the domestic economy
as community restrictions have limited movement of people and reduced business
operations nationwide. As we are now living with the new normal, the use of digital
technology and digital transformation have become important for Filipinos in coping
with the present crisis, moving towards economic recovery, and getting us back on
track towards our long-term aspirations
According to World Bank Economist Kevin Chua, lead author of the report,
increasing digital adoption by the government, businesses, and citizens is critical,
not only to help the Philippines adapt to the post-COVID-19 world, but also to
achieve its vision of becoming a society free of poverty by 2040.
MANILA -- Drastic quarantine measures imposed on the Philippine capital Manila
left many of the city's busiest shopping centers virtually empty over the weekend,
dealing a major blow to the country's $330 billion economy.
As of Monday, major malls and shopping centers in the National Capital
Region were ordered closed until April 14, with mass gatherings also banned.
With hundreds of flights into the city cancelled daily, gambling in Manila's
four resort casinos suspended, and restrictions on the trading of financial securities,
the main Philippine Stock Exchange plunged 8% on Monday with heavy losses
across all key sectors.
Manila's bourse saw 14% of its market capitalization erased last week, with
all listed companies ordered to file COVID-19 risk mitigation plans by Monday.
 Metropolitan Manila makes up nearly 40% the national economy and is
closely linked to production hubs to in the northern and southern regions. Gross
domestic product growth will be hit hard in the first half of the year, said Alvin Ang,
director at the Ateneo Center for Economic Research and Development.
While Philippines Economy considered a newly industrialized country, as
the said country tops at 27th largest economy by nominal GDP (according to
International monetary fund 2021) and also the 10 th largest economy in Asia we can
say that the Philippines is molding its foundation as globally competitive in terms of
its economy,
The Philippines is still an agriculture, services and manufacturing based
country. As of 2021, GDP by Purchasing power parity was estimated to be at 1.47.
trillion dollars, the 18th in the world
Primary exports include semiconductors and electronic products, transports
equipment, garments, copper products petroleum products, coconut oil, and fruits.
Which we can say that Philippines contributes other country international market
and it can offer many goods and products.
Covid-19 effect to market status in Philippines
As the effect of Covid-19 lockdown in the country it cripples business big and
small, the drastic long quarantine in the Philippines particularly in capital Manila left
many of the city’s busiest shopping centers are now being empty, dealing major
blow to the country’s 330,000-dollar economy according to Nikkei Asia.
With hundreds of flights into the city are cancelled affecting the country’s
tourism industry and also in trade market, but this situation is not only happening in
our country but also across the globe as the worlds shuts down on its normal
operation, many businesses are affected and needed to shut down its operation for
a second but the most massive impact of this happening is the normal people
because they are told to stay at home and not to work which brings them to a big
financial problem.
THE PHILIPPINES could benefit substantially from the ongoing massive shift
in global trade, with the services sector likely to see the most gains, the Asian
Development Bank (ADB) said.
While the coronavirus pandemic and lockdowns disrupted global economy
and trade, the ADB said Asia should adopt stronger trade liberalization and
facilitation efforts so it can benefit from economies realigning their supply chain
networks.
According to a study digital connectivity in Asia has increased, with rising
internet penetration, but large sub regional gaps persist. Greater access to online
resources through internet connectivity allows consumers, businesses, and
governments to gain wider and better access to goods and services beyond
geographic borders.
Asia will continue its rise as a major player in the global digital platform
market as wider access reaches more users and generates higher revenue growth
because there are a lot of entrepreneurs who used social media as a platform for
them to market their products, goods and services
The recent resurgence of cases and undetected transmission among younger
and healthier populations suggests that the COVID-19 outbreak will likely continue
for the foreseeable future until a safe and effective vaccine becomes widely
available.
In response to these emerging trends, some countries in our region are
starting to explore more sustainable and targeted response models that proactively
work to suppress new COVID-19 outbreaks while reviving their economies and
societies, rather than taking a reactive approach to outbreaks and having to repeat
nation-wide “lockdowns”.
In the short-term, governments should continue strengthening public health
and health system capacity, especially the early detection of and targeted response
to asymptomatic transmission among younger populations. Experience in our region
suggests that rapid detection coupled with robust contact tracing, can control
clusters of infection [8]. In parallel, countries should continue strengthening the
capacity of their healthcare systems, including health facilities to ensure enough
space and equipment to care for people who are severely sick, and intermediate
facilities for those who have milder symptoms. A strong public health and healthcare
system enables countries to accommodate more infection without overwhelming the
health system and having to trigger drastic public health measures.
How do we cope up in situation?

Having an emergency fund in a country would bring a lot of help in times of
this kind of situation because it will sustain the living of the people affected. Lucky
the Philippines has a fund to offer cash assistance program to those family who
completely loss their job because of the lockdown giving 5thousand pesos of
incentives.
Having a strong relationship with other countries really also brings a lot of
favor the Philippines started receiving aid during coronavirus pandemic particularly
from United States, Taiwan and Japan and many others by observing these
particularly list countries they are the Philippines major trading partners, the said aid
was given either cash or in kind, such as personal protective equipment (PPEs) for
health workers, and others medical supplies
Better progress comes underway as the country’s coronavirus vaccination
drive is getting started and a steady recovery in the global economy will underpin
growth of the Philippines economy this year and later, by the programs supporting
workers and firms
Impacted by the labor market adjustments and reforms to boost productivity
growth and investment will help counter the negative effects of the pandemic on
employment over the medium term.
PATTERNS AND TRENDS IN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS IN THE NEW
NORMAL SITUATION
For over a long period of time, the rapid and continuous growth of
conducting business transactions all over the world has immensely helped in
strengthening the economic relations among nations despite the cultural, social,
political, and economic differences. There are lots of growth opportunities for both
developing and under-developing countries by trading with each other at a global
level. Although a single action is accompanied by significant challenges, a country’s
effort to integrate globally is still evident up until this day. Thus, it is indeed true that
no matter how rich or big a country is, no nation can satisfy itself without the other –
this is where international business takes place.
Unfortunately, an unprecedented global crisis called COVID-19 has
drastically disrupted economic activities throughout the world. The worldwide
merchandise trade flows had decreased by 7 percent in year 2020 and the crisis
had also delivered shock from both the supply and demand sides (Baldwin, 2020;
Liu et al., 2021). If the rapid spread of COVID-19 and the measures taken by
governments to contain it have had serious consequences for the world’s major
economies, what do you think will happen if this continues to arise? And given with
the new normal situation as resulted by this unforeseen global event, what
happened now to the patterns and trends in international business?
Based on our reading, the COVID-19 pandemic ignited a change of era for
international business. For instance, the travel restrictions and quarantines affecting
millions of people had caused shortage of labor and parts, disrupting just-in-time
supply chains and triggering sales warnings across technology, automotive,
consumer goods, pharmaceutical, and other industries in China as one of the global
financial hubs. Also, the United States, one of the largest trade partners for most
countries of the world, was severely impacted by the outbreak of COVID-19 as it
shut down major economic sectors (ECLAC, 2020; Smith-Bingham & Hariharan,
2020).
The global crisis has also threatened the ability of a business to conduct
activities due to social policies being introduced, such as working from home and
social distancing measures. This combination has made it difficult for many
businesses, particularly those in the service economy to survive. Additionally, the
cash flow of many businesses has substantially changed in a short time frame.
Some businesses, most notably supermarkets and technology companies, have
flourished but also faced challenges in terms of high customer demands and supply
chain difficulties.
As new norms for these working conditions have shifted the working
patterns of businesses, it also redefines new business models and value-chains
which significantly increased the need to reinvent for new skills. Therefore, to
minimize the disruption brought by COVID-19 pandemic to the labor markets,
reskilling and upskilling of the workforce will be the top priority of many businesses.
The education and training systems will need to go through a major shake-up to
help the workforce quickly reskill and upskill using virtual solutions. Human-centric
technology adoption will become important to ensure communication and
knowledge streams to remain existent. Along with many other trends, COVID-19
has accelerated businesses to be reborn and rethink their place in their evolving accessing treatments and preventive measures and also in establishing more
surroundings (GHD, 2020). resiliency in nations. Global cooperation and unified science, technology, and
Meanwhile, the exporting of goods and services has also been restricted creative pandemic responses should really support more information sharing and
due to COVID-19. For G-20 countries as the world’s major economies, export bans even research and networking centers of scientific excellence. It comprises national
accounted for more than 90 percent of trade restrictions are significantly related to efforts to balance intellectual property rights with inexpensive and accessible
the pandemic. Most leading exporters are also major importers of critical supplies, treatments and vaccines.
which put integrated supply chains at risk. It has truly become a lot more Given with these new trends and patterns in international business as a
complicated compared before where countries can easily look for opportunities and result of COVID-19, we can conclude that this global crisis has changed the world in
global offerings in exporting in the global markets. ways that were unimaginable even a year ago. It can be seen that countries
However, despite the international business problems, issues, and the relentlessly continue to exert efforts to preserve lives while sustaining livelihoods.
negative impacts brought by the COVID-19 pandemic in this new normal setting, Never before has nearly half of the world's population been subjected to lockdown,
there are also recognizable opportunities and positive impacts that have arisen. and never before have so many people been forced to adjust their regular activities
There are many discoveries and innovations in all affected sectors or spheres at and routines so quickly, with such serious implications. Consequently, the impact of
regional, national, and global contexts. Most of these are medical, environment, COVID-19 pandemic across trade and development has been described with an
industry, and socio-cultural related, which will eventually help in managing the eye to making this “new normal” a fertile ground for more resilient, inclusive and
supply chain (Karunathilake, 2020). sustainable development.
Hence, one of these is the rapid innovation that helps businesses in
keeping afloat. Technology will continue to drive innovation across business models
in various industries, allowing new businesses to enter the market and disrupt
incumbents in serious ways. In order to drive business growth, staying relevant in
changing times and differentiate from the competition, business leaders must be
able to think creatively and embrace innovation to create break-through value for
their customers. As technology-enabled transformation is imperative, new mindset
for humans will be the driver to see a successful implementation to propel
businesses forward (GHD, 2020).
It was also found out that some industries have seen significant growth as
digitization tremendously emerged during the crisis. The new normal has developed
businesses of all sizes across nearly all industries, with changes likely to endure
even after COVID-19 is a thing of the past. These business trends include, but are
not limited to, cashless and contactless commerce, delivery, e-commerce
acceleration, robotics, sanitation, and technology investments.
Moreover, the pandemic also heightens the urgency of utilizing open
science as an instrument to bridge the gaps between countries in terms of