The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) sees the contribution of the private sector as crucial for overcoming the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, its President Odile Renaud-Basso has said.
“We will only build back better with the help of the private sector,” the EBRD Head said in a pre-recorded message for the virtual Global Covid-19 Summit today, organised by the government of the United States and bringing together world leaders and private and non-profit sector representatives.
“At the same time, the private sector expects multilateral cooperation to deliver global solutions and defeat the pandemic."
With its mandate to develop and foster the private sector in the 38 economies on three continents where it currently operates, the EBRD is uniquely placed to support the effort to support the recovery from the pandemic and build back better economies, the President stressed on the occasion of the summit.
The Bank would do this in four ways:
- First, by supporting the private sector’s recovery and market-friendly policy reforms,
- Second, by investing in a green and just transition of the EBRD economies,
- Third, by promoting equal opportunities, especially access to skills and employment, finance and entrepreneurship for women and youth, and
- Fourth, by supporting countries and companies to accelerate digitalisation.
The EBRD responded swiftly to the coronavirus crisis and increased its investments to a record €11 billion in 2020 along the remit defined by its mandate.
President Renaud-Basso emphasised that the Bank “will continue” to contribute to the recovery through its own investments and the mobilisation of the private sector: “We stand shoulder to shoulder with the international community as we work together on the greatest of challenges.”