Interview: Int'l cooperation needed more than ever, says Aussie economist

CANBERRA, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- International cooperation is needed now more than ever as the world is facing multiple crises, said Peter Drysdale, an economist at the Australian National University.

"International cooperation is in short supply because of geopolitical tensions," Drysdale, emeritus professor of economics and head of the East Asian Bureau of Economic Research and East Asia Forum at the university's Crawford School of Public Policy, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

The 17th Group of 20 (G20) Summit, which is themed "Recover Together, Recover Stronger" and due to take place in Bali, Indonesia, would be a "challenging" one "because we need a huge amount of economic cooperation to work through the problems we have," said the professor.

"Among the problems we have of course are the economic and health recovery from COVID-19, which still requires a lot of international cooperation in order to be successful," he said.

"These are both short-term problems and longer-term problems. We have a host of issues associated with international governments that require close cooperation," he added.

Overcoming geopolitical tensions and carrying out fundamental cooperation will stabilize the international economy and politics. "It is what we hope the G20 might be able to achieve," Drysdale said, calling on G20 leaders to adopt positive approaches.

Noting that digital transformation is a topic for this year's summit, he said the objective should be to develop principles which allow the institution of international rules to narrow the differences between the major players, so that there are healthy and growing opportunities for digital trade among them.

Climate change, being another important issue, is "an issue of common concern," and "an issue where there can be progress made among the major parties," the professor said.

He said it is "unrealistic" to think it would be an easy conference, but it is important that there be significant progress on key issues like cooperation on climate change and world trade.

He also wished to see a continuation of efforts following the G20 gathering in which developing countries would have the leading role.

"It's not just a one-off event. It's a long-term event," he said. "Keeping the G20 together in a positive cooperative mode will be a major achievement of this year's G20."