Ukraine war fallout: Restore global supply chains

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has urged the international community to urgently deal with the disruptions in global logistics and supply chains as Ukraine war has seriously strained the already fragile pandemic-hit global economy.

"This will help control the rising commodity prices," she said at the first high-level meeting of Global Crisis Response Group on Food, Energy and Finance (GCRG), organised by UN yesterday.

The GCRG has been established by the UN to coordinate the global response to the widespread impacts of the war in Ukraine.

The group has on board the world's six eminent leaders: Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley, Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen, Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz, President of Indonesia Joko Widodo and President of Senegal Macky Sall.

Joining the meeting virtually from the Gono Bhaban, Hasina said the war in Ukraine comes at a time when the world is still struggling to recover from the pandemic.

She said short supply and unusual price hike of food, fuel and other commodities have already put serious strain on the lives of people.

The PM mentioned that she brought to the table the voices of the millions of people who are the most affected due to this crisis.

Referring to Bangladesh's attainment of food and energy security, she said the Ukraine war, however, has made the situation extremely volatile.

Hasina said the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDs) are bearing the brunt. "They need immediate and targeted support measures to overcome this situation."

She said advanced economies and multilateral financial institutions have to come forward and grant duty-free and quota-free market access and more accessible financing to the vulnerable countries.

The premier reiterated that Bangladesh is a strong believer in multilateralism.

"We have always responded to the UN's call to contribute to global peace, stability, and development. Our commitment to supporting this group stems from that conviction."

As a nation, she said, Bangladesh is known for resilience against the most daunting challenges. The Covid-19 pandemic is its latest example.

"Our pandemic recovery efforts were marked by a careful balance between protecting lives and livelihoods," she said.

She said her government had put the most vulnerable people at the forefront of its recovery efforts. It widened the coverage of social protection to support those who are the furthest behind.

"Timely measures to procure vaccines helped us avert a major health crisis and save lives," the PM told the forum.

Hasina said the government also took pragmatic initiatives to support its export sector and SMEs. Stimulus packages worth $23 billion were rolled out.

And these measures helped the country achieve a 6.94 percent GDP growth rate in the last fiscal year, she said.