The current COVID-19 pandemic poses an unprecedented impact on societies
and economies around the world. The negative economic shocks intensified
by the global pandemic, shutdowns and layoffs, create a devastating
effect on the lives and livelihoods of millions. Indeed, over
half-a-billion people perished due to the global health crisis. To
combat the spread of the virus, governments curtailed the activities of
non-essential industries which forced hundreds of millions of workers to
get confined to their homes. While the pandemic sparked a global surge
in the demand for e-commerce which has pushed many firms to create a
digital presence to serve the growing market, the demand for specific
sectors such as air transportation, tourism and non-essentials including
hospitality and entertainment has vanished.
The Cambodian economy, which mostly depends on exports of garments,
footwear and textiles; tourism; agriculture; and construction,
contracted by 3.1 percent in 2020 (ADB, 2021) due to the global
pandemic. As we started to learn about COVID-19 and its impact on public
health and economy, CamEd Business School, a leading higher education
institution in Cambodia, took the humble initiative to organize an
International Research Symposium on November 15, 2020, to highlight-How
did a Health Crisis Translate to an Economic Crisis? The Impact of
COVID-19 Pandemic-which resulted in the outcome of this research-based
book, COVID-19: The Economy and Society. While the Economy part relates
to chapters such as economy, consumer behavior, informal workers,
garment sector and logistics, the Society part focuses on education,
online learning, creating shared value, civic participation and crowd
funding for social issues. This book is a timely outcome and ideal for
academic scholars, industry practitioners and government policymakers.
