President's column: Gazing down the global road

Global relations, the road ahead after the pandemic and perhaps a small return back to normality have been the themes dominating the headlines this month, writes Jason Wouhra, president of Asian Business Chamber of Commerce.

World leaders touched down in sunny Cornwall as part of the G7 summit, a gathering of the world 's most advanced economies, the first to happen in two years.

A communique, a statement prepared by nation leaders which are a part of the G7, released at the conclusion of the summit focused on ending the pandemic, preparing for the future, reinvigorating our economies, securing our future prosperity and protecting our planet.

It is great to see that there is so much collaboration happening on the world stage to quash this virus, and nations pulling together especially to pledge one billion Covid vaccine doses to poorer countries - an essential moral duty.

Health is first and foremost, it is key that as many people as possible are vaccinated quickly.

In my company, Lioncroft Wholesale Ltd, we focused making sure staff were vaccinated swiftly, in order to keep them safe and provide a feeling of comfort that they were and are protected.

I would encourage you and your businesses to urge staff to get vaccinated as soon as they can.

Alongside the health messaging detailed in the communique, it also focused on the economic recovery from this crisis.

The pandemic has affected so many jobs, businesses, and people 's working lives, we are likely to face a good few years of hardship as we rebuild.

We must focus on building skills, creating jobs, expanding our export and import ventures as we exit this pandemic.

However, we cannot forget that we must all, like with the vaccine programme, play our part in protecting our environment and lowering our emissions, another issue addressed in the G7 communique.

For me, it 's a no brainer that electric and hybrid cars must be made more accessible and cheaper.

I drive an electric car and can honestly say I would not turn back to owning a petrol vehicle again. Electric cars drive better than petrol cars, and the costs of running them are far cheaper too. The range on electric cars is really, the only downside.

But for many, an electric car is just out of reach. Policy makers and business really must tackle the issue of accessibility head on and fast as demand for these vehicles grows.

After the somewhat uplifting outcome of the G7, the nation was hit with the sad news that stage four of lockdown easing would not go ahead in England. These measures have impacted our already hard hit hospitality industry yet again, with no definitive plan to support them being provided by government.

If you walk into Birmingham, many restaurants are gone and those jobs have been lost, that is our reality.

How are these people going to survive if they have to close again?

There maybe is some hope though. I attended the England vs New Zealand Test at Edgbaston last week, and every single spectator was tested before and after attending.

It provided a great insight into what our future may be, a world where consumers may need to change their behaviour in order to keep money rolling through the tills.

Until that day is a reality, government needs to step up and provide support to hospitality, leisure and the wedding industry, which have undeniably suffered immensely from Covid restrictions.

It is imperative we keep our country safe, but this should not be to the detriment to business.