|
BRUSSELS/BERLIN, April 2-- The COVID-19 pandemic, which is sweeping the world, has left in its wake some 900,000 infected and over 45,000 dead by Thursday, according to the lastest World Health Organization (WHO) figures, triggering fears that the world economy could be driven into recession. The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) published on March 27 a report predicting that the crisis will cause international tourist arrivals to fall by between 20 percent and 30 percent in 2020 from last year's total of 1.5 billion tourist arrivals, leading to a loss of 300-450 billion U.S. dollars in international tourist receipts and hit the small and medium-sized companies that make up 80 percent of all businesses in the sector. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said in a recent report that the COVID-19 pandemic may bring a 30-40 percent drop in global foreign direct investment (FDI) flows during 2020 and 2021. The International Labour Organization published on March 18 a preliminary assessment of the outbreak's effects, indicating that it could increase global unemployment by almost 25 million, and push millions of people into underemployment and working poverty. The situation does not bode well for Europe where over 500,000 people have been infected and more than 33,000 died from COVID-19, especially as Germany, UK, France, Italy and Spain, the five major economies in terms of their GDP share of the world's total in 2018, also happen to be among the hardest hit by the coronavirus on the continent. | 
