(Yicai Global) Oct. 19 -- Shanghai should draw lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic and embrace digitization, improve its healthcare service and go more green, according to over 40 heads of multinational corporations who took part in a forum convened by the mayor of Shanghai to solicit opinions from business leaders around the world regarding the future development of the Chinese financial hub.

Considering Shanghai’s high population density and great levels of regional mobility, the Covid-19 outbreak will lead to improvements in the public health emergency system, Emmanuel Faber, chairman and chief executive officer of the French food giant Danone, said at the 32rd meeting of the International Business Leaders’ Advisory Council for the Mayor of Shanghai which was held online yesterday.

“As Winston Churchill said, ‘never let a good crisis go to waste,’” he added.

“Efforts need to be strengthened toward promoting industries directly related to life and health,” said Kobayashi Ken, chairman of Japanese carmaking giant Mitsubishi Corporation. “These include medical care and medicine, sanitation, healthcare, nursing and foodstuffs. They also include supporting industries such as education, logistics and distribution, renewable energy and recycling. Each of these fields will be redefined through digital transformation,” he added.

“To further invigorate Shanghai’s health-care system, part of the savings generated by China’s centralized drug procurement program could be reinvested in pharmaceutical innovation and the reform of hospitals,” said Joerg Reinhardt, chairman of Swiss pharmaceutical behemoth Novartis Group. For instance, the funds can be used to improve information technology infrastructure, the training of health-care professionals and the quality of care, he added.

China should also set up a framework to tackle the relatively low availability of treatments for rare disease patients, including trying out multi-channel funding, he added.

Going Digital

Digitization is playing an increasingly important role in a new economic environment in which supply chains have been disrupted.

“Shanghai is really becoming a digital transformation center and this has been accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Martin Sorrell, the former IBLAC chairman.

Digital can help build resilience through the entire industrial life-cycle from design to operation to make sure organizations are more responsive to changes, said French energy and digital solutions company Schneider Electric’s Chairman and CEO Jean-Pascal Tricoire.

Shanghai is well positioned to adapt to changes more quickly and more successfully than many other cities, said Mark Tucker, group chairman of UK lender HSBC Holdings.

Shanghai can further leverage its one-stop-for-all-services system to ensure comprehensive data coverage and coordinated emergency response, said George Oliver, chairman and CEO of Irish temperature control firm Johnson Controls.

Industry leaders can act as a bridge between governments, businesses and communities to build an ecosystem that can support critical digital infrastructure and invest in resilient facilities for the future, Oliver added.

While the chairman of Japanese financial services firm Nomura Holdings Koji Nagai proposed using the capital market to promote digitization and foreign investment into Shanghai.

Going Green

Jean-Pierre Clamadieu, the CEO of French utility firm Engie, believes that the pandemic offers an opportunity to reaffirm and accelerate the delivery of Shanghai’s decarbonization ambition. The Covid-19 pandemic has stimulated investment in long-term energy and climate sustainability solutions such as flexible power grids, EV charging, energy storage, hydropower, green hydrogen, clean district heating and cooling, he said.

Meaningful breakthroughs can be expected from a cross-industry approach, said Martina Merz, chairwoman and CEO of German steel producer Thyssenkrupp. This includes the utilization of green hydrogen in steel plants and the transformation of carbon emissions into valuable chemicals.

“The future should not only be smart, it should be also green,” Tricoire added. People should adopt clean energies in conservation, electrification and the circular economy to drive sustainability, he said.

Editor: Kim Taylor