Chengdu, China, 29 June 2020—UN-Habitat has always been an advocate for sustainable urban economy and prosperous livelihoods. This role has become increasingly critical during COVID-19 pandemic. As the world economy has officially entered recession, UN-Habitat is advancing its endeavours in world economic recovery.

Since the beginning of 2020, the unexpected pandemic stroke the world’s economy. The businesses which grasps the "new economy" opportunities have shown incredible resilience under the impact of the pandemic

Representatives from research institutions, startup enterprises, professional associations, and governments discussed insights on new economic opportunities during a webinar hosted by China’s Chengdu New Economic Development Commission and co-organized by Institution of New Economic Development, INED.

The webinar called "Scenario Opportunities for High-quality Science and Technology Innovation Space and Science City - Immersive Application Scene Dialogue" noted that many businesses have been forced to restructure their business models and launched competitive new products.

Marco Kamiya, senior economist from Knowledge and Innovation Branch of UN-Habitat, said that innovations, especially frontier technologies are important to fight pandemics.

“Multilateral collaboration is key to solving complicated challenges during this difficult time. And human beings rely on such collaboration not only to cope with COVID-19 pandemic, but also to make our cities more connected, resilient, and adaptable,” he said.

Zhang Xinyu, Director of Chengdu New Economic Development Commission said businesses which grasp the "new economy" opportunities had shown incredible resilience. “We are surprised to see that these ‘new economy’ enterprises even achieved rapid growth during the economic depression,” he said.

UN-Habitat seeks to provide substantive analytical focus on urban economy, its relationship with the national and global economy, and focus on policies and strategies aimed at employment generation and creation of opportunities for social mobility.

Technology plays a critical role in achieving SDG targets by improving the efficiency and effectiveness of human interventions. Technology can also be mobilized to identify barriers to and provide solutions for sustainable development challenges from the local to global levels. UN-Habitat together with cities will continue exploring the best practices for sustainable urban development, empowering high-tech MSMEs to become more human centered and sustainable.