Bilateral trade agreement is between two countries when they decide to mutually reduce trade barriers, which leads to specialisation and increases allocative and productive efficiency and consumers income. Bilateral trade agreement can also be between two unions such as European Union (EU) and OECD; EU and Balkan Countries; EU and Gulf Cooperation council countries (GCCC) Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
Published in Chapter:
Australia's Bilateral and Multilateral Health Sector Partnership With South Asian Nations: Opportunities and Challenges
Copyright: © 2022
|Pages: 22
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-8657-0.ch001
Abstract
Pandemic-related public health crises are important challenges of the 21st century. The COVID-19 pandemic healthcare crisis has resulted in international border closures; healthcare supply value-chain disruptions; increased infections, deaths, and coronavirus vaccine production and rollout issues; vaccine inequity and gaps between supply and demand for healthcare goods and services. This chapter aims to focus on the opportunities and challenges for bilateral and multilateral partnerships between Australia and the eight South Asian nations post pandemic to establish mutually beneficial bilateral and multilateral collaboration and partnerships for production of vaccine, research, and education into the healthcare sector. Australia can share its health expertise related to digital health, medicare, medical technologies, production of life-saving vaccines, and access to affordable and accredited quality of healthcare for combined 2 billion people living in South Asia and Australia, which is the key to meeting UNSDGs of good health, well-being for all, economic progress, and prosperity of South Asian nations.