| UPDATED: 09:58, Thu, Dec 31, 2020
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India and China have experienced tensions this year after a fatal clash between forces on either side occurred in the Ladakh region in June. Military deployments currently remain along the LAC boundary that separates them as officials engage in talks to ease tensions.
On Christmas Eve, the United Kingdom concluded its post-Brexit trade deal with the European Union. The deal, which will take effect on Friday, is worth£660 billion ($897 billion) a year-the biggest trade deal ever signed by either party.
Bangladesh Economy 2020: Rising from the rubble
The year 2020 began with a cloud of uncertainty hanging over the horizon. The novel coronavirus was spreading in Europe, the destination of over 60 percent exports from Bangladesh, after wreaking havoc in China, its largest trading partner.
Bangladesh felt the heat of a looming global crisis though the virus had not yet made its way into the country.
The bad news came a couple of months later. On March 8, the authorities confirmed the maiden case of Covid infection in the country. A week later, the first death from the virus was reported.
Soon, the country s economy, one of the shining stars in Asia, came almost to a halt as the government imposed countrywide lockdown to contain the spread of the virus.
DUBAI: Unusual or harrowing would probably be good terms to describe 2020. As the coronavirus pandemic took hold of the world, it was a harbinger of economic troubles on one hand. On the other hand, there were companies and stock markets benefiting from new ways of doing business, such as working from home and ordering goods and services on the internet.
The K-shaped recovery, where some benefited and others lost due to the pandemic, probably best describes what happened. We saw bifurcation, with East of Suez recovering more quickly from the pandemic and even growing, while stock markets in North America, China and some selected other markets reached new highs despite growing unemployment.