by Xinhua writer Tu Yifan
RIYADH, March 26 (Xinhua) -- What the world is facing amid the COVID-19 outbreak is a global crisis that needs global response, a leading economist from a Saudi think tank told Xinhua in a recent interview.
"The biggest risk for the global economy is that if we don't act in unity ... it could go into a recession," said John Sfakianakis, chief economist at the Gulf Research Center.
"The world was sleeping for a very long time before they understood that this is a global pandemic," he said.
Sfakianakis said that the Group of 20 (G20) needs to be activated like it was in 2009 to bring global support and unity.
Saudi Arabia, which holds the presidency of G20 this year, will host via video a G20 extraordinary virtual leaders' summit on COVID-19 on Thursday.
As for the upcoming G20 summit, Sfakianakis believes the meeting needs to go beyond its 20 members and be all inclusive to push for a global response.
"China has great scientists, so do Europe and the U.S. They all need to work together to find a solution. This is not the time to think just of one country," he said.
"The world should see that the virus does not see borders and flags. There has to be a global solution, rather than a national solution," said the expert.
As China has basically contained the spread of the novel coronavirus, the world "need to see how Chinese people did it," he said.
"China has been doing a great job, providing medical support and experience to Italy and many other countries," he said.
He stressed the role of the World Health Organization in promoting global cooperation in fighting the pandemic.
"The way forward, there has to be a global system of pandemic center that watches these things at an earlier stage" as the world might face similar situations in the future, said Sfakianakis.
