Chairman's View – Making up for lost time

Message from the chairman

By Giuseppe Izzo

Dear Members

The first half of 2020 has been challenging for all of us. We have all been affected in some way by the coronavirus pandemic. Some of our loved ones have been infected or taken by the disease. People in healthcare and essential services have endured great hardship and risked their lives to keep the rest of us safe. Some of our companies have been devastated by the drop in economic activity on account of global lockdowns while all of us have had to adjust to a world almost without global travel and disruptions to business operations and supply chains.

As I have said many times over the past few months, we are lucky to be in Taiwan during the worst healthcare crisis of our lifetimes. Thanks to early, decisive and proportionate actions taken by the government, Taiwan has avoided the worst of the potential healthcare outcomes as witnessed in Europe, the United States and elsewhere. And, for us in the business community, because authorities and businesses took control of the situation early, our operations have been subject to minimal disruptions compared to our colleagues and counterparts in most other countries. For keeping us safe and in business, we owe the government, healthcare and essential workers of Taiwan a great debt of gratitude.

Many of our members have been involved in global relief efforts during the pandemic, both directly or indirectly. However, the greatest contribution we can make to the recovery effort is to do what we do best: keeping our businesses running as sustainably as possible, keeping people employed and contributing to the economy.