Covid-19

The current COVID-19 pandemic poses an unprecedented impact on societies and economies around the world. The negative economic shocks intensified by the global pandemic, shutdowns and layoffs, create a devastating effect on the lives and livelihoods of millions. Indeed, over half-a-billion people perished due to the global health crisis. To combat the spread of the virus, governments curtailed the activities of non-essential industries which forced hundreds of millions of workers to get confined to their homes. While the pandemic sparked a global surge in the demand for e-commerce which has pushed many firms to create a digital presence to serve the growing market, the demand for specific sectors such as air transportation, tourism and non-essentials including hospitality and entertainment has vanished.

The Cambodian economy, which mostly depends on exports of garments, footwear and textiles; tourism; agriculture; and construction, contracted by 3.1 percent in 2020 (ADB, 2021) due to the global pandemic. As we started to learn about COVID-19 and its impact on public health and economy, CamEd Business School, a leading higher education institution in Cambodia, took the humble initiative to organize an International Research Symposium on November 15, 2020, to highlight-How did a Health Crisis Translate to an Economic Crisis? The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic-which resulted in the outcome of this research-based book, COVID-19: The Economy and Society. While the Economy part relates to chapters such as economy, consumer behavior, informal workers, garment sector and logistics, the Society part focuses on education, online learning, creating shared value, civic participation and crowd funding for social issues. This book is a timely outcome and ideal for academic scholars, industry practitioners and government policymakers.