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Martin Wolf, the Financial Times columnist says, “Across-the-board rivalry with China is becoming an organising principle of US economic, foreign and security policies.”It is too late. America Cannot Challenge or Compete with China.China is ten times older, has ten times more smart people and its economy is one-third bigger and growing three times faster than America’s.People: Americans no longer feel the need for extra effort, while Chinese students have clear plans for their professional future and, as employees, willingly make the extra effort for their firms. American unions are adversarial and distrustful while China has the highest union participation on earth yet employees fully understand that businesses must make money to pay their salaries.Social harmony: Confucius, the great political scientist observed, “Rulers who led their people to the Realm of Lesser Prosperity, a xiaokang[1] lifestyle, were themselves pillars of courtesy, sincerity, justice and virtue while those who did not lost power and everyone regarded them as pests”. Low crime, no religious nonsense or Islamic violence. Companies can invest safely without fear of religious unrest, violence or robbery.Education: Chinese high school students graduate three years ahead of America’s. One-fourth of the world’s STEM workers are Chinese, an intellectual workforce eight times larger and growing six times faster than America’s. By 2025, China will have more technologically skilled workers than the entire OECD (USA, EU, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Israel, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, and Turkey) combined. Two percent of Chinese–twenty-eight million people–have an IQ of 140 (‘gifted’), sufficient for membership in Mensa. The Chinese overall five point IQ advantage over Americans means that they have 300,000 people with 160 IQ, compared to 10,000 in the US. [Thanks to Frans Vandenbossche, Zakelijk China, scherp in beeld gebracht]. No country has so many smart, fast thinking people as China. Not just students or professionals, but ordinary people. To quote a friend who hires workers for factories in the US and China,“Manufacturing in the US is a nightmare. At our facility our only requirement for a assembler was a high school degree, US citizenship, passing a drug and criminal background check and then passing a simple assembly test: looking at an assembly engineering drawing and then putting the components together. While the vast majority of Americans were unable to complete the assembly test, in China they completed it in half the time and 100% of applicants passed. An assembler position in the US would average 30 interviews a day and get 29 rejections, not to mention all the HR hassles of assemblers walking off shift, excessive lateness, stealing from work, slow work speed and poor attitudes. The position starts at $12 an hour in flyover country which is pretty reasonable compared to other jobs that only require a GED and no prior work experience and offers medical, dental and annual raises with plenty of opportunity to move up in the company and earn the average salary for a Production Assembler, $33,029 in US, if they stayed for 5+ years.“Identical positions in China pays the same wages as other positions there with only a high school degree and no work experience. Yet the applicant quality is much higher, and this also applies to the white collar support professionals: schedulers, quality inspectors, equipment testers and calibrators, engineers, supply chain managers, account managers, sales. Their labor quality is simply higher. At the end of the day, high-end and middling manufacturing is not moving to either the US or Mexico because average people in flyover country are dumb as rocks.”Social Indicators: By 2021 every Chinese will have a home, a job, plenty of food, education, safe streets, health- and old age care. 500,000,000 urban Chinese will have more net worth and disposable income than the average American, their mothers and infants will be less likely to die in childbirth, their children will graduate from high school three years ahead of American kids and live longer, healthier lives and there will be more drug addicts, suicides and executions, more homeless, poor, hungry and imprisoned people in America than in China.Leadership: China has professional, non-factional government. President Trump observed, “Their leaders are much smarter than ours. It’s like taking the New England Patriots and Tom Brady and having them play your high school football team.” China’s government is forward-looking, decentralized, efficient and thrifty. The Government Entrance Examination selects the top 2% of graduates each year and success is the only avenue to power, responsibility (and even deification, since China’s Gods are democratically chosen and millions of pilgrims visit deified officials’ shrines each year). The 200 members of the State Council–all promoted on their ability to work cooperatively–have governed billions of people for a combined 5,000 years and their publicly available stats are jaw-dropping. Most have a PhD and an IQ over 140. Americans have little trust in their government and Gallup says 20 percent of them rank government as their most pressing problem and only 54 percent ‘consistently express a pro-democratic position’. The Chinese government, by contrast, is the most trusted on earth:Innovation: In 1999, Samuel Huntington warned,Civilizations grow because they have an instrument of expansion, a military, religious, political, or economic organization that accumulates surplus and invests it in productive innovations and they decline when they stop the application of surplus to new ways of doing things. In modern terms we say that the rate of investment decreases. This happens because the social groups controlling the surplus have a vested interest in using it for non-productive but ego-satisfying purposes which distribute the surpluses to consumption but do not provide more effective methods of production. Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of the World Order.The social groups controlling America’s surplus used it for non-productive, ego-satisfying purposes like wars, which distributed the surpluses to consumption but did not provide more effective methods of production. The the social group controlling China, the CCP, did the opposite:America failed to invest its surplus in productive innovations and China did. That’s why China is the world leader in 5G and most new technologies.China leads the world in basic research and in most technologies, especially hot areas. China has overtaken the US to become the world’s largest producer of scientific research papers, making up almost a fifth of the total global output, according to a major new report.China dominates a global ranking of the most-cited research papers published in the 30 hottest technology fields. Though the U.S. accounted for 3.9 million research papers overall compared with 2.9 million from China, the Asian country produced the largest share in 23 of the 30 fields that drew the most interest.According to the Japan Science and Technology Agency, China now ranks as the most influential country in four of eight core scientific fields and is overtaking America in the other four.The Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence (Ai2) examined not just the number of AI research papers coming from China but the quality of those papers—as judged by the number of citations they receive in other work. China will overtake the US in the most-cited 50% of research papers this year, the top 10% of research papers in 2020, and the top 1% by 2025. China is already ahead in the number of AI patents filed, AI venture capital invested, and research papers cited worldwide. The number of Chinese students studying AI and graduating from universities worldwide exceed the total number of other countries’ AI students combinedTAn Overview of Scientific and Scholarly Publishing says China has overtaken the US to become the world’s largest producer of scientific research papers, making up a fifth of the total global output,The World Intellectual Property Organization, WIPO, ranked 167 universities and public research universities for the top 500 patent applications. 110 of the patents were from China, 20 from the United States and 19 from South Korea. China also dominates a global ranking of the most-cited research papers published in the 30 hottest technology fields.Finances: Since its economy is growing three times faster and all its debt is domestic, China’s debt burden is one-third of America’s, while the Financial Times says, “America will need to sell $12 Trillion of bonds in the coming decade..Who on earth–or in global finance–will buy this looming mountain of Treasuries, the US borrowing requirement even before Trump’s major upgrade of America’s weapons systems? ..These borrowing needs will all have to be financed in the context of already high global dollar debt exposure. One of America’s biggest hedge funds privately concluded that in five years’ time the Treasury will need to sell bonds equivalent to 25 per cent of gross domestic product, up from 15 per cent now. This level of debt has occurred just twice in the past 120 years, first during the second world war and then again during the 2008 financial crisis.”Infrastructure: New, automated highways, railways, airports, subways and ports and, next year, the world’s fastest, most advanced Internet and an entire city built around 5G.Inequality: Much of China’s GINI (inequality) gap is structural: their inland, rural populations have always been poorer than their urban, coastal cousins and, because the country couldn’t afford to build homes or cities fast enough, inlanders were held in place by residential hukous. But this aspect of inequality has been exaggerated because the cost of living in wealthy areas like Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen is much greater because urban land prices–though not housing quality–are vastly higher. If we include the full range of goods and services whose price differ across areas (in rural areas basic foods cost half of Beijing’s), incomes from most rural areas should be increased by fifty percent to make them comparable.If we adjust for where people actually live, the difference shrinks even further. Until recently, demographers counted people’s hukous–where they were registered to live rather than where they actually lived–but migrant workers’ numbers rose to three hundred million in 2018, distorting the comparisons. In real life, the coastal provinces have millions more residents than their registered populations and the reverse holds for migrant-sending inland provinces so, as each person moved from China’s interior to the coast, measures of inequality rose because the migrant contributed to income in the coastal destination but was still counted as living in the origin, interior, area. Once this counting error was corrected, regional inequality in China was found to have declined at an average trend rate of 1.1 percent per year from 1978 to 2016. [Spatial Price Differences and Inequality in the People's Republic of China: Housing Market Evidence,” Asian Development Review, MIT Press].In 2018 President Xi announced that the country will spend 2021-2035 bringing both income and wealth levels closer to Finland’s, the world’s most equitable country.Hunger: There are more hungry people in America than in China:Influence: Gallup says that, despite America’s domination of world media, 34% of the world approves of China’s leadership compared to America’s 31% adding, “As the global balance of soft power continues to shift, it may prove even more difficult for the US to counter this influence”. China generates 20% of global GDP vs. America’s 15%, its imports and exports are in balance, its trading relationships are excellent, its currency fairly valued, its economy one third larger and growing three times faster, its manufacturing wages have reached parity with the US.Trade: China’s most significant trade relationships are Asia and Europe, with the US third. As Parag Khanna says, “Asia’s decoupling reflects the fact that America does not need the rest of the world for its survival. In geopolitics, that is a blessed condition but in geoeconomics it means the US is actually much more dispensible than it thinks. Indeed, China’s most significant trade relationships are first and foremost other Asians, followed by Europe, with the US third most important. From China’s standpoint, number three just launched a trade war against number one. It has taken one short generation for Asia to launch its decoupling from the US—and the coming generation will witness even more couplings among Asians themselves. “America first” sounds like a great idea, except when it actually means, “America alone.”Science and Technology. According to the Japan Science and Technology Agency, China is the most influential country in four of eight core scientific fields, tying with the U.S. The agency took the top 10% of the most referenced studies in each field, and determined the number of authors who were affiliated with the U.S., the U.K., Germany, France, China or Japan. China ranked first in computer science, mathematics, materials science and engineering and is rapidly catching up in physics. The U.S. led in physics, environmental and earth sciences, basic life science and clinical medicine.China leads the world in most of the top 10 fields (and in each of the five areas in the top 10 tied to battery research). It accounted for more than 70% of all papers on photocatalysts and nucleic-acid-targeted cancer treatment, which ranked 12th and 14th. The U.S. led in three biotechnology fields, including No. 7 genome editing and No. 10 immunotherapy.China leads in all fields of civil engineering and of sustainable and renewable energy, in manufacturing, supercomputing, speech recognition, graphenics, thorium power, pebble bed reactors, genomics, thermal power, ASW missiles, drones, in-orbit satellite refueling, passive array radar, metamaterials, hyperspectral imaging, nanotechnology, UHV electricity transmission, HSR, speech recognition, radiotelescopy, hypersonic weapons, satellite quantum communications, quantum secure direct communications and quantum controls. “Approximately 72% of the academic patent families published in QIT since 2012 have been from Chinese universities. US universities are a distant second with 12%.” Patintformatics.: No country has so many intelligent, well trained, devoted engineers. China leads the world inquantum encrypted communications,5G telecommunications,CCTV and face recognition–which the NYPD usesSpace: China launched more space missions in 2018 than Russia.China is the world’s leading provider of UAVs and the largest manufacturer and exporter of light combat aircraft. Once it gets is WS-15 engine right it will be America’s equal in fighter technology.Ocean engineering equipment and hi-tech ships. China is the go-to builder for ships like LNG transporters and naval vessels that require technical expertise (the USN even approached it about building a floating dock) It designs, builds and operates the most powerful surface combatants afloat, the Type 55 cruiser.China leads in all aspects of railway engineering and wins the bulk of global rail contracts. The first of five low speed maglev lines has completed testing and two more will open this year.Energy-saving and new energy vehicles: China leads the world in batteries and electric cars and has more than 20 manufacturers innovating to survive.Power equipment: China leads the world in basic research and manufacturing of all renewable energy sources and nuclear energy and it installed more renewable and nuclear power last year than the rest of the world combined. It dominates the market for long distance UHV transmission.New materials like graphene and nanomaterials. China's share of the most cited nanoscience papers grows 22% annually and overtook the US in 2014. Its contribution–in quantity and quality–is now greater than the rest of the world’s combined. Most of the world’s graphene is manufactured, and most graphene startups are in China and the country is even with the US in nanomaterial development.Market Size: There are twice as many people in China than in the US and Europe combined and domestic consumption of China is growing 7% annually as 200 million rural people move into new cities. China will have abundant low salary workers in its western provinces for the next 15 years.Business flexibility: Chinese companies are flexible beyond imagination. They can change products, management, focus, or whatever, literally overnight. The Chinese are incredibly flexible and their culture has already outlived the Egyptians, the Greeks and the Romans. Western companies are hierarchically organised whereas in Chinese companies decisions are made fast, often on the phone.Thrift: Chinese companies and families have three trillion dollars in their savings accounts and 80% of homes have no mortgages. The country has no external debt and investment money is easy to find.Democracy. China is the world’s leading democracy. Electively, popularly, procedurally, operationally, substantively, financially, technologically, China is a democracy and America is not.Geography. China and its partner, Russia, dominate Eurasia morally, economically, geographically, technologically and militarily. Between them China and Russia have the world’s largest reserves of natural resources. China remains self-sufficient in food and Russia literally has more arable land than it knows what to do with. As Zbigniew Brzezinski warned, “A power that dominates Eurasia would control two of the world’s three most advanced and economically productive regions… control over Eurasia would almost automatically entail Africa’s subordination, rendering the Western Hemisphere and Oceania (Australia) geopolitically peripheral to the world’s central continent. 75 percent of the world’s people live in Eurasia and most of the world’s physical wealth is there too, both in its enterprises and underneath its soil. Eurasia accounts for about three-fourths of the world’s known energy resources.” [The Grand Chessboard].Economic Development and Industrial Capacity. China has twice America’s industrial capacity and its factories are half the age of American factories.Home Ownership: One of the most important social stabilizers is home ownership and China is the world leader in this area:Military Preparedness. Chinese missiles outrange American missiles–usually by 100%–in every category, from A2A to ICBMs. Tough its military spending consumes half America’s discretionary budget, it is losing five wars, has lost the Black Sea and the Middle East and is close to losing the entire Eurasian continent. The bills for those wars are coming due. And, as Winston Churchill put it, “Want of foresight, unwillingness to act when action would be simple and effective, lack of clear thinking, confusion of counsel until the emergency comes, until self-preservation strikes its jarring gong—these are the features which constitute the endless repetition of history.” The PLA on the verge of fielding some of the most modern weapon systems in the world. In some areas, it already leads the world–at half the cost of America’s defense budget. By 2025, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) will have 4 aircraft carriers, 3 Type 075 landing helicopter docks, each carrying 30 attack helicopters, and 10 Type 071 amphibious transport docks, 16 Type 055 guided missile cruisers, 18 Type 052D guided missile destroyers, 6 Type 052C air defence destroyers, 4 Type 052B multirole missile destroyers, 32 Type 054A multi-role frigates, 6 Type 054B multi-role frigates and 80 Type 056/56A corvettes as well as 6 Type 901 fast combat support ships and 12 Type 903 replenishment ships. The underwater fleet will include 11 Type 039 diesel-electric attack submarines, 12 Type 039 AIP diesel-electric attack submarines, 21 Type 093 nuclear-powered attack submarines, 8 Type 094 nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines, 10 Type 095 nuclear-powered attack submarines and 6 Type 096 nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines.Ideology. The US has no coherent ideology while China’s Confucian ideology is 2,500 years old. China’s elite, the ninety-million members of the Communist Party, have sworn to ‘bear the people’s hardships first and enjoy its fruits last’.Diplomacy. Without threats or coercion, China has created the SCO, the largest security alliance on earth; the AIIB, the largest international finance agency; the BRI, an ambitious trading program with 130 member nations; and the upcoming RCEP will dwarf all trading alliances. The majority of Germans want to distance themselves from the United States and nearly half of then consider China to be a more reliable partner for Germany than the US. Our media’s efforts to diminish China’s soft power are failing, as Europe’s decision to retain Huawei indicates.The Future. The Chinese have a strong belief in the future and willingly sacrifice time and effort for the next generation. The Chinese are feeling as America did in the 60s, and their wages and wealth have doubled every decade for seventy years. By 2025, nine Chinese provinces will enjoy higher average incomes than average Americans.By 2035 China’s manufacturing will reach ‘an intermediate level among world manufacturing powers,’ with greatly improved ability to make key breakthroughs and ‘significantly increase overall competitiveness.’ By 2049 China expects to ‘lead the world’s manufacturing powers, with the capability to lead innovation and possess competitive advantages in major manufacturing areas, and will develop advanced technology and industrial systems.”Kishore Mahbubani, former President of the UN Security Council, says, “The key question the West must ask is: how was the relative over-performance of Western societies in the second half of the 20th century replaced by underperformance in the 21st century? The answer will not come from looking at China. It will come from looking in the mirror."The size of China’s displacement of the world balance is such that the world must find a new balance. It is not possible to pretend that this is just another big player. This is the biggest player in the history of the world. –Lee Kwan Yew.[1] Lesser Prosperity.

Basically, nothing. It already happens in most of Mexico beach resort towns, without anyone even noticing or caring, this happens because Mexico is very welcoming of Americans in general, if in doubt, you can ask the 28.5 yes, TWENTY EIGHT AND A HALF MILLION US Tourists that travel to Mexico every year.​AmericanThe largest number of Americans outside the United States live in Mexico. According to Mexico 2010 Census, there are 738,103 Americans living in the Mexican Republic,[1] while the US Embassy in Mexico City has at times given an estimate closer to 1 million (the disparity is due to non-permanent residents, notably the "snowbirds") . Mostly, people who come from the USA are students, retirees, religious workers (missionaries, pastors, etc.), Mexican-Americans, and spouses of Mexican citizens. A few are professors who come employed by Mexican companies to teach English, other English teachers, and corporate employees and executives.While significant numbers live in Mexico year round, it is probable that a majority of these residents do not stay the whole year. Retirees may live half a year in the U.S. to keep retiree benefits. Those called "snowbirds" come in fall and leave in spring. The American community in Mexico is found throughout the country, but there are significant concentrations of U.S. citizens in all the north of Mexico, especially inTijuana, Mexicali, Los Cabos, San Carlos, Mazatlán,Saltillo, Monterrey and Nuevo Laredo. Also in the central parts of the country such as San Miguel de Allende, Ajijic, Chapala, Mexico City and Cuernavaca, and along the Pacific coast, most especially in the greater Puerto Vallarta area. In the past few years, a growing American community has developed inMérida, Yucatán.ArgentineOver the centuries, Mexico has received immigrants from Europe, the Americas (e.g., the United States, Colombia, Guatemala, Argentina, Honduras, Cuba, Brazil and Canada), and sometimes from Asia. Today, millions of their descendants still live in Mexico and can be found working in different industries.Mexico is a country of emigration, immigration, refuge, transit, and return migration. According to the 2010 National Census, there are 961,121 immigrants registered with the government as living in Mexico, the majority of whom are US citizens.[1] This is almost double the 492,617 foreign-born residents counted in the 2000 Census.[1] According to theintercensal estimate conducted in 2015, the foreign-born population was 1,007,063.[2] Unofficial estimates put the total number of foreigners in Mexico closer to four million.[3]Prior to May 2011, Mexico's immigration flows were regulated by the highly restrictive 1974 General Law of Population. However, on May 24, President Felipe Calderón signed into law a new and much more liberal Migration Law.[4] The Mexican Senate and subsequently the House had unanimously approved the migration bill that led to this new law on February 24 and April 29, respectively. Some of the most significant principles of this new law deal with the rights of migrants. The new law guarantees that foreigners and Mexican nationals will receive equal treatment under Mexican law. Under this principle all immigrants, regardless of status are granted the right to access education and health services. Mechanisms aimed at promoting family unity are now in place. Moreover, before the government takes action (e.g. deportation) with respect to migrant children and other vulnerable individuals (women, seniors, the handicapped and victims of crime) their specific needs must be prioritized and adequate services must be provided. Migrants are also granted judicial rights that they previously lacked, such as the right to due process. The law also calls for establishing a Center for Trust Evaluation and Control which will be charged with the task of training and certifying immigration personnel in hopes of curtailing corrupt practices. All Institute of Migration officials are to meet the same standards as the rest of the country's security agencies. Government officials found to be in violation of this law are now subject to penalties including fines and prison sentences.With the Mexican government’s intent to control migration flows and attract foreigners who can contribute to economic development, the new migration law simplifies foreigners’ entrance and residence requirements. It replaces the two large immigration categories—immigrant and nonimmigrant—with the categories of “visitor” and “temporary resident”, while keeping the status of “permanent resident”. In the General Law of Population the two categories incorporate over 30 different types of foreigners—i.e. distinguished visitor, religious minister, etc.—each with its own stipulations and requirements to qualify for entry and stay. Under the new law the requirements are simplified, basically differentiating those foreigners who are allowed to work and those who are not. The law also expedites the permanent resident application process for retirees and other foreigners. For granting permanent residency, the law proposes using a point system based on factors such as level of education, employment experience, and scientific and technological knowledge.[5]According to Article 81 of the Law and Article 70 of the regulations to the law—published on 28 September 2012— immigration officials are the only ones that can conduct immigration procedures although the Federal Police may assist but only under the request and guidance of the Institute of Migration. Verification procedures cannot be conducted in migrant shelters run by civil society organizations or by individuals that engage in providing humanitarian assistance to immigrants.Undocumented immigration has been a problem for Mexico, especially since the 1970s. Although the number of deportations is declining with 61,034 registered cases in 2011, the Mexican government documented over 200,000 unauthorized border crossings in 2004 and 2005.[6] In 2011, 93% of undocumented immigrants in Mexico came from three countries -Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador- however, there is an increasing amount of immigrants from Asia and Africa.[7]History of immigration policy​Japanese immigrant workers at the mine of Cananea, Sonora in the 1910s. The Japanese, unlike other Asian immigrants, came from a politically strong nation and were seen as industrious, so they were exempt from the discriminatory immigration policies.Overview of Mexican immigration policy in regards to ethnicity or nationality:1823 - Permanent settlement and naturalization is restricted to Catholics[8] (see also General Colonization Law)1860 - Catholic favoritism ends with the establishment of freedom of religion[8]1909 - First comprehensive immigration law rejects racial discrimination (enacted under the Porfirianregime, but ignored by the governments that followed the Mexican Revolution)[8]1917 - Shorter naturalization times for Latin Americans[8]1921 - Confidential circular, followed by an accord between China and Mexico, restricts Chinese immigration[8]1923 - Confidential circular excludes Indians[8](these confidential circulars were kept secretive in order to avoid diplomatic problems, such as with the British Empire or the United States)1924 - Confidential circular excludes blacks[8] (in practice, it excluded working class Afro-Latin Americans, but not elites)1926 - Confidential circular excludes gypsies[8]1926 - Exclusion of those who "constitute a danger of physical degeneration for our race"[8] (see alsoBlanqueamiento and national policy)1927 - Exclusion of Palestinians, Arabs, Syrians,Lebanese, Armenians and Turks[8]1929 - Confidential circular excludes Poles andRussians[8]1931 - Confidential circular excludes Hungarians[8]1933 - Exclusion or restrictions of blacks, Malays, Indians, the 'yellow race' (East Asians, except Japanese), Soviets, gypsies, Poles, Lithuanians,Czechs, Slovacks, Syrians, Lebanese, Palestinians, Armenians, Arabs and Turks.[8]1934 - Exclusion or restrictions extended to Aboriginals, Latvians, Bulgerians, Romanians, Persians, Yugoslavs, Greeks, Albanians, Afghans, Ethiopians, Algerians, Egyptians, Moroccans andJews.[8]1937 - Quotas establishes unlimited immigration from the Americas and Spain; 5,000 annual slots for each of thirteen Western European nationalities and the Japanese; and 100 slots for nationals of each other country of the world.[8]1939 - Shorter naturalization times for Spaniards[8]1947 - Law rejects racial discrimination, but promotes a preference for "assimilable" foreigners[8]1974 - Law eliminates assimilability as a gauge for admission[8]1993 - Shorter naturalization times for Portuguese[8]2015 Temporary Migrant Regularization ProgramThe Programa Temporal de Regularización Migratoria(PTRM) published on 12 January 2015 in the Diario Oficial de la Federación, is directed at those foreigners who have made their permanent residence in Mexico but due to 'diverse circumstances' did not regularize their stay in the country and find themselves turning to 'third parties' to perform various procedures, including finding employment.[9]The program is aimed at foreign nationals who entered the country before 9 November 2012.[9]Foreigners wishing to live and be part of the national life of Mexico, will receive through the PTRM the status of 'temporary resident' by an immigration document that is valid for four years.[9] The temporary program will run from 13 January to 18 December 2015.[9]In accordance with the provisions of Articles: 1, 2, 10, 18, 77, 126 and 133 of the Ley de Migración; 1 and 143 of the Reglamento de la Ley de Migración, any foreign national wishing to regularize their immigration status within Mexican territory, under the PTRM will complete the payment of fees for the following:I. Proof of payment for receiving and examining the application of the procedure... ... MXN 1124.00 (USD77.14 as of 12 January 2015)II. For the issuance of the certificate giving them the status of temporary stay for four years ...... MXN 7914.00 (USD 514.17)Through Article 16 of the Ley Federal de Derechos, foreign national are exempt them from payment if it can be proven that they earn a wage at or belowminimum wage.[9] During the period that the PTRM is in effect, no fine is applied (as is the practice otherwise).[9]Main article: Argentine MexicanArgentine immigration to Mexico started in small waves during the 1970s, when they started escaping dictatorship and war in Argentina.Currently, the Argentine community is one of the largest in Mexico, with about 13,000 documented residents living in Mexico. However, extra-official estimates range the number from 40,000 to 150,000[10][11]In Quintana Roo, the number of Argentines doubled between 2011 and 2015, and now make a total of 10,000, making up the largest number of foreigners in the state[12]Central American​Transient migrants from Central America making their way to the U.S.-Mexico border. These migrants use a rail network known as La Bestia to traverse Mexican territory.The largest recent immigrant flows to Mexico are from Central America, with a total of 66,868 immigrants from Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Panama and Nicaragua living in Mexico in 2010.[13]Recently, Mexico has also become a transit route for Central Americans and others (Africans, Asians, and East Europeans) into the United States. 2014 was the first year since records began when more non-Mexicans than Mexicans were apprehended trying to enter the United States illegally through the U.S.-Mexico border.[14] Non-Mexicans (vast majority of whom are Central American) were up from about 68,000 in 2007 to 257,000 in 2014; Mexicans dropped from 809,000 to 229,000 during the same period.[14]In 2014, Mexico began to more heavily crackdown on these transient migrants.[15] According to Mexican officials, the Plan Frontera Sur (Southern Border Plan) is designed to retake control of the historically porous southern border and protect migrants fromtransnational crime groups.[15] However the measures have been widely attributed to pressure from the United States, who does not want a repeat of 2014, when a surge of tens of thousands of women and children clogged up American immigration courts and resulted in a severe lack of space in detention centers at the US-Mexico border.[15]ColombianIt is estimated that a total of 73,000 Colombians reside in Mexico.[16]CubanCuban immigration to Mexico has been on the rise in recent years. A large number of them use Mexico as a route to the U.S., and Mexico has been deporting a large number of Cubans who attempt to. About 63,000 Cubans live in Mexico[17]European​Immigrant registration form of a Jewish Lithuanian woman that emigrated to Mexico in 1934. The restrictions applied to Eastern Europeans did not completely eliminate migration of affected groups.Although Mexico never received massive European immigration after its independence, over 1 million Europeans immigrated to Spanish America during the colonial period, which relative to the population of the time, could be said to have been massive European immigration. Although they were in their majority from Spain, other Europeans immigrated illegally. They migrated to Mexico for the most part, and to a lesser extent, Peru. They were called "inmigrantes clandestinos", of which 100,000 were Spanish.[citation needed]Towards the end of the Porfiriato, there were an estimated 100,000 to 200,000 foreigners in the country.[18] The three largest groups were the Spanish, Americans and Chinese.From 1911 to 1931, 226,000 immigrants arrived in Mexico,[19] the majority of which were from Europe.BritishThere are many Mexicans of English, Welsh andScottish descent. According to Mexico's Migration Institute in 2009 there were 3,761 British expatriates living in Mexico.[20]Cornish culture still survives in local architecture and food in the state of Hidalgo. The Scottish and Welsh have also made their mark in Mexico, especially in the states of Hidalgo, Jalisco, Aguascalientes, andVeracruz. British immigrants formed the first footballteams in Mexico in the late 19th century. NorthernSpaniards of Celtic ancestry like the Asturians,Galicians, and Cantabrians, have also left an imprint in Mexican culture and their languages formed many distinct accents in various regions in Mexico, especially in the central and northern states.FrenchMexico received immigration from France in waves in the 19th and 20th centuries. According to the 2010 census, there were 7,163 French nationals living in Mexico. According to the French consulate general, there are 30,000 French citizens in Mexico as of 2015.[21]The French language is often taught and studied in secondary public education and in universities throughout the country. French may also be heard occasionally in the state of Veracruz in the cities ofJicaltepec, San Rafael, Mentideros, and Los Altos, where the architecture and food is also very French. These immigrants came from Haute-Saônedépartement in France, especially from Champlitteand Bourgogne.Another French group were the "Barcelonettes" from the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence département, who migrated specifically to Mexico to find jobs and work in merchandising and are well known in Mexico City,Puebla, Veracruz and Yucatán.An important French village in Mexico is Santa Rosalía, Baja California Sur, where the French culture/architecture are still found. Other French cultural traits are in a number of regional cultures such as the states of Jalisco and Sinaloa.The national folk music mariachi is thought to have been named after the French word for "marriage" when the music developed in wedding parties held by French landowning families. It is the legacy of settlers brought in during the Napoleonic-era French occupation is found in Guadalajara, Jalisco. TheSecond Mexican Empire, created another trend of refuge for French settlers.For the Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico from the Habsburg dynasty brought with him French, Austrian, Italian and Belgian troops, and after the fall of the Second Empire, most scattered through the area of the Empire. The descendants of these soldiers can be found in the state of Jalisco in the region calledLos Altos de Jalisco and in many towns around this region and in Michoacán in cities like Coalcomán,Aguililla, Zamora, and Cotija.These refugees intermixed with the Austrians,Galicians, Basques, Cantabrians, Italians, and Mexicans in those areas of Michoacán and Jalisco, as well as neighboring states.During World War II, tens of thousands of French expatriates from Mexico participated in the Free French Forces and the French Resistance, including Mexican-born Lieutenant Rene Luis Campeon of French parentage, was thought to be the first in command to enter Paris during the Liberation of Paris from the retreating Nazis in August 1944.Other Francophone peoples include those fromBelgium such as the Walloons and Franco-Swissfrom Switzerland. The Belgians, started by the veteran Ch. Loomans, tried to establish a Belgian colony in the state of Chihuahua called Nueva Bélgica, and hundreds of Belgian settlers established it, but many moved to the capital of the state and other towns around the area, where the Walloon and French could be heard.The Occitan language can be heard in the state ofGuanajuato, it is also known as Langue D'oc is a language originally spoken in Southern France. Also to note is the city Guanajuato has a sizable French expatriate community.GermanyThe Plautdietsch language, is spoken by descendants of German and Dutch Mennonite immigrants in the states of Chihuahua and Durango. Other German communities are in Nuevo León, Puebla, Mexico City,Sinaloa and Chiapas, and the Yucatán Peninsula. The largest German school outside of Germany is in Mexico City (Alexander von Humboldt school). These represent the large German populations where they still try to preserve the German culture (evident in its popular regional polka-like music types, conjunto andnorteño) and language. Other strong German communities lie in Coahuila (notably theMennonites), Chiapas (Tapachula) and other parts of Nuevo León (esp. the Monterrey area has a large German minority), Tamaulipas (the Rio Grande Valley in connections to German American culture andMexican American or Tejano influences), Puebla (Nuevo Necaxa) where the German culture and language have been preserved to different extents. According to the 2010 census, there were 6,214 Germans living in Mexico.[1] As of 2012, about 20,000 Germans reside in Mexico.[22]Of special interest is the settlement Villa Carlota: that was the name under which two German farming settlements, in the villages of Santa Elena and Pustunich in Yucatán, were founded during theSecond Mexican Empire (1864–1867).[23] Villa Carlota attracted a total of 443 German-speaking immigrants, most of them were farmers and artisans who emigrated with their families: the majority came from Prussia and many among them were Protestants.[24] Although in general these immigrants were well received by the hosting society, and the Imperial government honored to the extent of its capabilities the contract it offered to these farmers, the colonies collapsed in 1867.[25] After the disintegration of Villa Carlota as such, some families migrated to other parts of the peninsular, into the United States and back to Germany. Many stayed in Yucatán, where we can find descendents of these pioneers with last names such as Worbis, Dietrich and Sols, among others.[26]Included in the ethnic German immigration to Mexico are from Austria, Switzerland and the French region of Alsace which was part of France since 1919, as well those from Bavaria and High German regions of Germany.[citation needed]. There are about 2,000,000 Mexicans with some partial German ancestry, without counting the ones with total German ancestry, making Mexico 3rd country with the largest German community in Latin America, behind Braziland Argentina.[27]IrishThere is also an Irish-Mexican population in Hidalgo and the northern states. According to INM, in 2009 there were 289 Irish expatriates living in Mexico.[28]Many Mexican Irish communities existed in Mexican Texas until the revolution. Many Irish then sided with Catholic Mexico against Protestant pro-US elements. The Batallón de San Patricio, a battalion of U.S. troops who deserted and fought alongside the Mexican Army against the United States in theMexican–American War (1846–48). In some cases, Irish immigrants or Americans left from California (the Irish Confederate army of Fort Yuma, Arizona during the U.S. Civil War (1861–65). Álvaro Obregón (O'Brien) was president of Mexico during 1920-24 and Ciudad Obregón and its airport are named in his honor. Actor Anthony Quinn is another famous Mexican of Irish descent. There are also monuments in Mexico City paying tribute to those Irish who fought for Mexico in the 19th century.ITALIANThere has not been a huge influx of Italians to Mexico, as there has been to other countries in America such as Argentina, Brazil, and the United States. However, there was an important number of arrivals from northern Italy and Veneto in the late 19th century who are today well assimilated in Mexican society. The exact number of Italian descendants is not known, but it is estimated that there around 85,000 Italian Mexicans in the eight original communities. As of 2012, 20,000 Italians reside in Mexico[22]RussianAccording to INM in 2009 1,396 Russians are living documented in Mexico.[20] According to the Russian embassy, 25,000 reside in Mexico.[29] Most leftRussia during its communist regime (Soviet Union), taking advantage of the Mexican law allowing migrants from communist countries refuge if they touch Mexican soil, and the ability to become legal residents of Mexico.[citation needed] The Molokans were a small early 20th century immigrant group to Valle de Guadalupe, Baja California.SpanishStatue in Veracruz, Veracruzcommemorating the Spanish immigrants that arrived as a result of the Spanish Civil War.Spaniards make up the largest group of Europeans in Mexico. Most of them arrived during the colonial period but others have since then immigrated, especially during the Spanish Civil War (1936–39) and the Francisco Franco regime (1939–75).The first Spaniards who arrived in Mexico, were soldiers and sailors of Extremadura, Andalucia andLa Mancha who discovered the Yucatán Peninsula, the shores of the Gulf of Mexico and then made the conquest of what they call the New Spain. Among the soldiers sent by the Spanish crown to the colonial territory were Muslims converts from Córdoba andGranada. At the end of the 16th century, both common and aristocrat people migrated to Mexico and disseminated by its territory.Most recent immigrants came during the Spanish Civil War. Some of the migrants returned to Spain after the civil war, but some of them remained in Mexico. According to the 2010 census, there were 18,873 Spaniards living in Mexico.[1]Due to the 2008 Financial Crisis and the resulting economic decline and high unemployment in Spain, many Spaniards have been emigrating to Mexico to seek new opportunities.[30] For example, during the last quarter of 2012, a number of 7,630 work permits were granted to Spaniards.[31]The article on Basque Mexicans covers the large segment of Spaniards and some French immigrants of the Basque ethnic group.Other EuropeanEditSmall waves of immigrants from Poland, Ukraine and other Eastern European countries (Bulgaria, Hungary,Romania etc.), arrived during the Cold War.Immigrants came to a lesser amount from Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Cyprus, Greece (SeeGreek Mexican), Albania, Croatia, Serbia, Czech Republic, Montenegro, Denmark, Norway, Sweden,Finland, Slovakia, Slovenia the island country of Maltaand the Portuguese from Portugal and Cape Verde.ArabEditMain article: Arab MexicanEthnologue reports that 400,000 Mexicans speak Arabic.[32]The Arab Mexican population consists of Lebanese,Syrians and Palestinians, whose families arrived in Mexico after the fall of the Ottoman Empire in World War I. The majority of them are Christian but some are Muslims.Business tycoon and billionaire Carlos Slim Helú is the best-known Mexican of this immigrant group, as he is currently ranked by Forbes as the richest man in the world. His parents, Maronite Christians, immigrated to Mexico from Lebanon.Other West AsianEditOther members of the Middle Eastern community in Mexico include Armenians, smaller numbers ofPersians from Iran, and Turks from Turkey.East, South and Southeast AsianEditMain article: Asian Mexican​​Monument in Merida, Yucatancommemorating 100 years of Korean immigration.Mexico has seen immigration from different parts of Asia throughout its history. The first known Asians arrived during the Colonial era as slaves, labourers and adventurers from the Philippines, southern Chinaand India. Smaller amounts of immigrants came from Korea, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), Indonesia, Cambodia, Japan and the Malay peninsula. This group of immigrants were collectively described as "Chino" meaning Chinese despite coming from many diverse origins.[33][34][35] During the early 20th century, a significant amount of Asians, primarily Chinese and Korean, were imported as labourers. These immigrants were known as Henequen andChinetescos and were heavily concentrated in agricultural plantations in the Pacific states (e.g.Sinaloa) and the Yucatán Peninsula.A more recent wave (late 20th and early 21st century) of Korean immigrants have arrived as merchants and skilled labourers.[36] Modern immigrants can be found in large cities (especially Mexico City and Monterrey), while Korean descendants are most numerous in the coastal regions like Baja California,Sonora, Guerrero, Veracruz, Campeche, Yucatán andQuintana Roo. According to INM, in 2009 there were 5,518 South Koreans and 481 North Koreans living in México[28] There is an estimated 40,000 descendents of Korean henequen workers.The story of Chinese immigration to Mexico extends from the late 19th century to the 1930s. By the 1920s, there was a significant population of Chinese nationals, with Mexican wives and Chinese-Mexican children. Most of these were deported in the 1930s to the United States and China with a number being repatriated in the late 1930s and in 1960. Smaller groups returned from the 1930s to the 1980s. The two main Chinese-Mexican communities are in Mexicali and Mexico City but few are of pure Chinese blood.[37]The city of Mexicali in Baja California has the largestChinese population in Mexico and the largestChinatown called La Chinesca. The culture and language from the mainly Cantonese and Mandarin-speaking peoples are evident in the food, architecture, and everyday life in Mexico City. The Chinese entered the nation in the 19th century to build railroads, and many xenophobic acts were taken against them because Mexico preferred European immigrants. According to the 2010 Census there are 6,655 Chinese immigrants living in Mexico.[1]Other Asian communities in Mexico are the Japanese, followed by Indians and Pakistanis, and there are Filipinos from the Philippines when the country was under Spanish colonial (1540's-1898) and U.S. American territorial rule (1899–1946). These ethnic groups arrived in the northern states of Mexico as contract farm laborers in the 20th century. And a small Vietnamese community that has close connections with the Vietnamese Americancommunity in the United States. The majority of Asian Mexicans live in urban areas or along the US-Mexican border.The Japanese community is also important in Mexico, and they reside mainly in Mexico City,Morelia, San Luis Potosí, Puebla, Guadalajara, andAguascalientes, and the immigrant colony in the state of Chiapas known as Colonia Enomoto. TheJapanese language is important in their cultural life in Mexico and many institutions for nikkei exist and those wishing to learn the language and their ways of life can attend these lyceums. According to INM, in 2009 there were 4,485 Japanese immigrants residing in Mexico.[20]There are approximately 200,000 (0.2%) Mexican people who can partly claim Filipino ancestry stemming from colonial times. The Philippines had a connection to Mexico through Spain, as it was administrated from New Spain for over 300 years. According to INM, in 2009 there were 823 immigrants from the Philippines residing in Mexico.[20]Numbers of people by nationality in MexicoEditMost foreigners in Mexico counted in the Census come from the United States or other Hispanophonecountries, with smaller numbers from Europe, East Asia, and the non-Hispanophone Americas. Their numbers have been rising as the country's economy develops, but still comprise less than 1% of the population.PlaceCountry2010200019901​​United States738,103343,591194,6192​​Guatemala35,32223,59746,0053​​Spain18,87321,02424,7834​​Colombia13,9226,4654,6355​​Argentina13,6966,2154,9646​​Cuba12,1085,5375,2177​​Honduras10,9913,7221,9978​​Venezuela10,0632,8231,5339​​El Salvador8,0886,6472,97910​​Canada7,9435,7683,01111​​France7,1635,7234,19512​​China6,6552,1001,16113​​Germany6,2145,5954,49914​​Peru5,8863,7491,63315​​Chile5,2673,8482,50116​​Italy4,9643,9042,39717​​Brazil4,5322,3201,29318​​South Korea3,9602,0791,16119​​Nicaragua3,5722,5221,521Other countries43,79937,12632,487TOTAL961,121492,617340,246Source: INEGI (2000),[38] CONAPO (1990)[39][40] and INEGI (2010)[41]

The Coronavirus or COVID-19 is a disease based on an unknown virus. It seems that it started in China and has widely spread in almost all countries in the world. This pandemic situation is one of the widely spread diseases in recent history. However, there was an influenza pandemic in 1918 with the exact number of deaths still unknown. Some believe that the death toll would have been about 50–100 million people. At the time of writing this article, COVID-19 has infected 5,306,928 persons worldwide (when the article was finalised for publication, the number has increased up to 15,947,291). The article is aimed at analysing the positive and negative impacts of COVID-19 in a sociological perspective. It is further focused on possible challenges to the supply chain in South Asia. South Asian countries are highly influenced by the pandemic situation, and the regional representation is about 4% in the later part of May 2020 with an increasing tendency. Also, the article has a proposal for the control of the disease as well as the entire socio-economic, environmental and political atmosphere in a country, whilst particularly giving more weight to South Asia. The proposed actions are analysed in short-term, mid-term and long-term basis, and any expert and social worker who is involved in the pandemic control process can gain an insight into what to do and how to perform their tasks. A sociological analysis on COVID-19 is very important because there is a wing comprising dominant medical experts in the control and management of the disease. The article emphasises the importance of a sociological analysis in a pandemic situation. Naturally, anyone would think of a pandemic situation in very negative terms due to its emotional, socio-economic, environmental, political and cultural factors. However, it is also positive due to certain factors that help to reintegrate and reorganise the social system as a whole.The main objective of this paper is to discuss the positive and negative impacts of COVID-19 in a sociological perspective with special attention to the supply change in South Asian countries. In addition, the paper proposes a future action plan or COVID-19 recovery action plan for Sri Lanka as a South Asian country. The country is in a COVID19 affected stage and is gradually progressing into a non-affected stage, and this action plan is focused on at least a five-year period.There is no argument that the local economic and social spheres as well as global spheres have been challenged and some sectors have been drastically dismantled (Malpass 2020). Therefore, we need to repose our trust mostly on local spheres which facilitate our basic needs and other socio-economic needs structure. As we know very well, we are in possession of a substantial service sector, rather than industrial and agricultural sectors. In contrast to these sectors, we need to maintain sound industrial and agricultural sectors to maintain a good service sector. However, our industrial sector will be severely damaged due to COVID-19. Especially, the apparel and textile industry will be heavily damaged due to COVID-19, since the pandemic has severely affected giant countries such as the USA and European countries. This will lead to lesser and lesser demand for readymade apparels, thus leading to the closure of many apparel industries in the country. The factories would not be able to overcome this situation since their buyers would cut down all possible avenues to recover from the dire situation. The export volumes of the agricultural and fisheries sectors would decrease, creating negative economic and social impacts on Sri Lanka. Though the World Bank issued a statement on March 30, 2020, it does not provide any forecasts on Sri Lanka or South Asian countries. It focuses only on East Asian and Pacific countries whilst highlighting the poverty incident that would increase dramatically (World Bank 2020c). If the economic situation were to deteriorate further and the lower-case scenario prevails, then poverty is estimated to increase by about 11 million people in these regions. In April 2020, the World Bank illustrates the South Asian context of COVID-19 and its impacts. It says that the impact of the pandemic will hit hard low-income people, especially informal workers in the hospitality, retail trade and transport sectors who have limited or no access to healthcare or social safety nets (World Bank 2020a). Furthermore, it focuses that the Sri Lankan economic growth in the first quarter of 2020 is between 3.0 and − 0.5 and it will remain low throughout the year. It may slowly grow until 2022 with a 2.5% growth rate. The forecast analysis shows that Sri Lanka will struggle with the economy. Thus, the country needs a well-integrated plan to avoid economic hardships as well as social and political tensions. Especially, it needs political stability, high level of mass participation in all sectors, attitude change in domestic production and use, and low level of dependency on foreign aids and foreign goods and services. Especially, it will help to refurbish the domestic supply chain as the countries’ primary target.When the Sri Lankan scenario is looked at, the economic growth has translated into shared prosperity with the national poverty headcount ratio declining from 15.3% in 2006/07 to 4.1% in 2016 (World Bank 2020b). Extreme poverty is rare and concentrated within some geographical pockets; however, a relatively large share of the population subsists on slightly more than the poverty line. However, COVID-19 would increase poverty incidents to some extent since many apparel sector workers are unemployed or under-employed. Foreign migrant labourers are affected due to the situations in their respective countries and they are losing their decent income. Simultaneously, the tourism and hotel industry will be severely affected, sometimes temporarily as Sri Lanka is managing the pandemic situation satisfactorily and this could attract future foreign tourists on the lookout for healthy living. If the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) plans a well-integrated domestic production, strengthening and improvement activities, it will ensure the flow of the national supply chain without any disturbances, and also such a situation may help to gain significant improvements in local and foreign tourism.Within the socio-economic background highlighted above, Sri Lanka needs to have a very comprehensive future action plan to overcome all negative impacts. Especially, it is important to identify the short-term, medium-term, and long-term negative and positive impacts in terms of developing a future action plan or COVID-19 recovery action plan.When focusing on positive impacts the immediate question that may arise is, what are the positive impacts in a global pandemic situation? Sociologically, there is a theoretical perspective and a method called functionalism or functional perspective and this method could be utilised in analysing the impact of social action (Parsons 1951a, b; Rocher 1972; Luhmann 1995; Knudsen 2010). COVID-19 is a social action, and it can also be considered a great social problem on the basis of Richard Puller’s definition. When looked at generally, COVID-19 is a disease spreading through close human contacts in day-to-day social relationships. It is a virus and certain sections also consider this to be a man-made virus or biological weapon. There is no conclusive evidence on who made it or for what purpose. The majority of those directly affected are the elderly and a considerable number of people are dying. The percentage is changing from country to country, and the USA which is highly affected shows that 2.9% of the deaths are amongst these affected persons. The death toll is very high in Italy which is 13%. In Sri Lanka, it is 3.7% and it is a higher figure when compared to India, which is 2.8% (Coronavirus Update (Live): 108,808,073 Cases and 2,395,911 Deaths from COVID-19 Virus Pandemic, 2020). Thus, it is important to understand what the positive impacts are. They are given in the following:1.People are adapting to a pandemic situation, and they also understand what the ideal social behaviour is in a similar situation. This may include government pandemic management systems and policies.2.They learnt about social distancing and its rules, conditions and procedures. Especially, how painful it is but useful within the family and the community. Also, they adapt themselves to the situation whilst contemplating the difference between a normal situation and a pandemic situation.3.As a result of social integration, families and communities engage in a high level of social cohesion or social conscience to face the difficult situation. Hence, everyone is getting used to a common lifestyle, sharing and caring for others, especially the elderly people.4.The death of an elderly or chronically ill person results in a reorganisation or reunion of the family unit. Though it is not an easy task to bear the psycho-social factors, finally they come to certain common conclusions.5.Similarly, the government and regional organisations in the global context may reunite to face the pandemic situation. For example, the SARRC countries reunited over COVID-19 and set up financial allocations for supporting poorer nations. The recent SAARC video conference on COVID 19 has resulted in the establishment of a fund for regional cooperation to combat the pandemic. The giant country India contributed USD 10 million followed by Sri Lanka which contributed USD 5 to the fund. This fund can be utilised for the improvement of domestic and regional production whilst aiming at an uninterrupted supply chain in the agricultural, industrial and service sectors.6.Medical systems in any country will be improved to sustainable levels to face a pandemic situation. They will understand the existing gaps in these systems. Especially, many South and East Asian countries will focus on their indigenous medical systems and how it should be integrated with the biomedical system which shows poorer results. Their dominant authority may be challenged by indigenous medical practitioners due to the strength of the indigenous medical systems to treat COVID-19 patients.7.The global hegemonic power would change and a new hegemonic power relation is taking its place without any brutal war conditions and much economic and social costs. It seems that the USA may lose the hegemonic power, which would be replaced by China and within such a scenario China could achieve its long-term goals. However, it can be delayed and disturbed by the USA through certain economic restrictions against China. Recently, the USA announced that they are willing to withdraw their investments in China. Under such circumstances South Asian countries, particularly India can offer much better economic policies to attract US investments in India. Similarly, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh can grab some such opportunities in certain industrial fields. This may help in improving supply chain values and efficiency in South Asian countries.8.The new hegemonic power may extend its supporting hands to the developing nations and poorer countries. Thus, there will be a competition amongst China, USA and India to support regional countries in South East Asia. The new world order may be a novel experience to the countries and their people. At the beginning it will be optimistic as per the conflict theory in sociology. If it suits the supply chain system in these countries then the people may accept the new order.9.There will be many discoveries and innovations in all affected sectors or spheres at national, regional and global contexts. Most of these would be medical, environment, industry and socio-cultural related. These discoveries and innovations will help to manage the supply chain in South Asian countries.10.The potentials would be in domestic production and services to maintain local traditional lifestyles rather than adapting to modernity. People may repose their trust in many local-level trades and business firms rather than depending on the supermarket systems. These trends strengthen the supply chain network at national and regional levels. Perhaps, there may be some new trading opportunities too amongst regional countries.11.Domestic production could increase due to family or cottage level agricultural practices including other small-scale handicraft productions in society. This may reduce the market demand to some extent and it may also cause negative effects amongst international trades.12.As mentioned above, the pandemic situation may increase the level of innovations amongst the people. Some creative-minded people may introduce much effective and productive primary and secondary things, efficient ways and means of productions, low-cost productions, technological advancements, etc. These trends too may strengthen the supply chain network at national and regional levels.13.People may be attracted to traditional foods and consumption practices mainly based on the human family. Intergenerational social integrity will strengthen and be consolidated by youths. There will be a lesser demand for restaurants and hotel sector supply chains in each level such as national, regional and global due to the social and physical distancing.14.Decline in defence expenditure at national and global levels and minimising the need or requirements in the arms race, especially in nuclear weaponry systems, at least on a temporary basis. Thus, war fear could be minimised in certain regions. This may in turn influence international terrorism and its supply chain networks.15.New ideological constructions in many critical subject disciplines, such as medicine, economics, political science, sociology, psychology, robotic sciences, religious and humanistic sciences. Hence, research and development activities will expand in every country.16.Developments in sociological tool-kits and social engineering skills to deliver efficient services through supply chain networks and management of patients and general public.17.People getting used to do some optional analysis and adapt to follow optimum use of resources, economising resources, and sustainable approaches to satisfy their need structure. These trends may reorganise the supply chain networks in national and regional levels.18.General public may develop some positive altitudes over the special duties performed by various essential services in society, especially, health workers, social workers, police and armed forces who are involved in quarantine processes, etc. However, there should be very efficient supply chains to maintain these services in optimum operation when necessary to society, particularly, in South Asia.19.Reduction in plastic and polythene use at the domestic level, thus reducing the environmental pollution. As a whole, it may contribute to global environmental protection efforts. Especially, it may temporarily reduce greenhouse gases due to the minimum use of vehicles and industries in the world. Perhaps, there may be some climate changes in the environment.20.Reduction in the environmental pollution in the world, regional and national contexts. Mainly, air, sound, and water pollution will be reduced. There are some studies conducted, and they reveal that the pollution level is reduced drastically in all these three sectors.21.Possible formation of further philanthropic ideas amongst the upper hierarchy segments in society. Thus, the domestic supply chain networks should capture these demands effectively.22.If the government is successful in managing the COVID-19 instead of developing a pandemic situation, it can lead to a stable political order in society. Perhaps, the incumbent government could win another term in power as the pandemic situation has provided a great opportunity to compare each country and its skills in the governance of their political regimes.23.Reduction in crimes such as drug addiction, alcoholism, gambling, prostitution or commercial sex, violence and suicide. Again, the supply chain networks in commercial sex, illicit drugs, etc. may change.24.Some countries may amend or introduce specific legislation based on their experiences in the management of COVID-19 pandemic situations. Particularly, trading pacts amongst regional countries may change whilst new pacts may also be formulated.25.Some countries may review policy gaps and take action for policy updates. Sri Lanka needs a policy on indigenous medicine (traditional medicine) which is not covered by the existing health policy in Sri Lanka. It is the right time to respond to the court decision and request a new pharmacopeia with a list of codes.26.More utilisation of the internet for sharing ideas, new knowledge, filtering knowledge gaps, news messages, etc. This may open up more avenues to reduce the stress level of the people.27.Return migrants who are having strong financial resources may invest in Sri Lanka if the socio-economic and political stability established after complete control and management of COVID-19 in Sri Lanka.28.Returning migrants with less or poor financial resources may seek jobs in the apparel sector or plantation sector. Therefore, there will be a high supply in the labour market in the country. This situation may impact the new formation of production and supply chain networks.29.There will be more research on COVID-19, particularly discovering a vaccine and medical strategies which are more effective in patient management. If any new vaccinations are discovered, there will be a massive demand from each country and new supply chain networks will emerge within the health sector.Therefore, positive impacts are relatively high and some impacts are short term and most others are long term. This situation depends on the early stage of April 2020 and the shape could change due to several global socio-economic and political factors. So far, COVID-19 is in a rapid spread tendency in most countries, and there are no sufficient health and socio-economic facilities, especially supply chain networks to address the need structure of the pandemic situation in these countries. When the Indian scenario is analysed, the COVID-19 impacts will be the most painful here when compared to other countries. The social system prevailing in India is not simple in terms of managing the pandemic situation. It is very clear that any society which has a high social disparity may have to face the most negative impacts.The negative impacts towards the family, communities, nations, regions and the world push them backward in any sector or socio-economic and political spheres. Several elements which cause negative impacts can be identified as illnesses or COVID-19, pandemic situation, deaths, social distancing, curfew and the lock-down of the entire functional mechanism of a single society and the global network in production, trade, supply chain networks, transportation, social networking and political network. Therefore, this paper has given similar attention to the negative impacts of COVID-19 at the local, regional and global contexts based on the situation in early April 2020. They are given in the following:1.The pandemic situation has spread as a global pandemic disease which is creating fear, stress, stigma, minimising social networks, etc.2.Health and medical systems, especially biomedical systems, have taken their maximum effort but the healthcare system itself is affected due to various conditions in nature. Thus, there are many deaths reported though the biomedical system has made an enormous effort.3.High rate of deaths due to various illnesses or complications of diseases occurring amongst the patients, especially the elderly who are affected by COVID-19.4.Impossible tasks and challenges to the medical staff, supporting staff, social workers and health administrators at local, domestic and/or global levels. The World Health Organisation (WHO) is the primary entity followed by other United Nations (UN) agencies which are responsible during a regional and/or global pandemic situation.5.Some countries such as Italy, Spain, USA and China and a few other European countries are facing a much higher disintegration in all subsystems of society. Thus, the social system needs a complete reorganisation and integration to survive.6.Dismantling the family relationship and intimate relationships with relatives, neighbours, various communities, etc. These conditions may lead to interpersonal conflicts and domestic violence in the family.7.Losing the knowledge, experience, and services of the elderly would mean that the next generation would not be able to share them for their betterment.8.Downward trends of family economic conditions and several lower hierarchy social classes facing unbearable economic hardships due to lack of daily or monthly earnings. Though there are market accessibility and supply chain network even under the limitation of social mobility, they do not possess the purchasing power.9.Disruptions of schools, universities and vocational education segments where they have to seek certain optional strategies to cover up their educational goals. Especially, they may face some irreversible gaps in their education. All supply chain networks in the education field have been interrupted.10.Some people may face various kinds of stress, social stigma and depression conditions due to the malfunction of the social system.11.Possible social conflicts or conflicts of interests in the subsystems and this may lead towards the social system. Some institutions and organisations may not possess sufficient capacities to find remedial solutions to fill the gaps and issues.12.Decline in religious belief systems and practices in all religions and people may not believe in superstitious powers, in god and other divine and invisible elements in society.13.If the government and its subordinate authorities face some inadequate workable decisions or binding decisions and poor policy applications, it may lead to political instability in society. These conflicts of interests may cause political changes in society.14.Social unrest, stress and social stigma amongst the family members due to their detachment from family as a result of local and international migration. This may get aggravated further through the suspension of continental air transportation under lock-down situations.15.Disruptions in the productions of primary and secondary items in the society. Especially, issues in the production of primary items may lead to social unrest in society. Less demand and lack of proper supply chain networks may aggravate the existing unrest level.16.There are many people who are losing their jobs and incomes in the formal and informal sectors in the society.17.Service providers’ (supply chain networks) inability to continue the day-to-day supply of commodities and other services due to the lack of profit margins. It may lead to detachments from such entities or services, and some people may find alternative solutions. Thus, there may be some temporal decline in supply chains in society.18.People might depend on rumours and other informal channels of information if there is a chaotic condition in formation channels or the dissemination of information. Especially, if there are some loop halls in supply chain networks, these rumours may work rapidly with different social and economic impacts.19.Certain social classes may display their egoistic ideologies at the time of accumulating primary or essential goods and services. This may cause some negative attitudes amongst other social classes by creating conflict of interests.20.Global economic recession and increase in poverty level in society. This may lead to financial crises such as a decline in monetary values, share market values and businesses, changes in supply chain networks, and purchasing power of the people.21.The country has to take alternative action to maintain a stable economy. The developing countries and poor countries may get more loans and grants for their economy to survive. Thus, there will be more economic and political dependency in these countries. As a result of this condition, countries in the hegemonic circle may directly or indirectly fulfil their hidden agendas in the territories of such dependent countries. Being South Asian countries, there are certain common social and economic characteristics that need to be safeguarded during the pandemic situation.22.The pandemic situation will directly influence the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) defined to be achieved by 2030, since some countries may not allocate financial resources to meet the country-specific targets.23.Internal fragmentation may occur in global hegemonic countries, particularly in the USA and they may attempt to regain the hegemonic power through various economic and political strategies. Perhaps, they may go for direct war strategies with other countries or accelerate existing intervention in the Middle-East region.24.Sri Lankans who have been employed in foreign countries may return home and future foreign revenues may reduce. It is one of the major revenue in Sri Lanka, especially the migrant workers in the Middle-East, Europe and East Asian countries made a significant contribution to the Sri Lankan economy. This may cause some effects in supply chain networks in Sri Lanka as well as South Asian countries.25.If the government of Sri Lanka does not engage the returning migrants fruitfully, they may get frustrated and thus cause some vulnerability in the informal sectors of society.When these positive and negative impacts are considered, it is very clear that COVID-19 has caused more positive impacts to the nations, regions and the world, particularly to South Asian countries. However, some countries such as Italy, Spain, the USA, and China and several European countries have suffered a lot. At the time of writing this article, COVID-19 has infected 5,306,928 persons worldwide (when the article was finalised for publication, the number has increased up to 15,947,291). Comparatively, these positive and negative impacts are valid for these countries too, irrespectively of the level of the spread of COVID-19.The proposed future action plan or COVID-19 recovery action plan mainly focuses on the socio-economic, environment and political spheres and not on the medical and technical spheres. Table 1 illustrates this categorically.Download PDFResearch NotePublished: 02 September 2020Positive and negative impacts of COVID-19, an analysis with special reference to challenges on the supply chain in South Asian countriesK. KarunathilakeJournal of Social and Economic Development (2020)Cite this article153k Accesses1 CitationsMetricsdetailsAbstractThe Coronavirus or COVID-19 is a disease based on an unknown virus. It seems that it started in China and has widely spread in almost all countries in the world. This pandemic situation is one of the widely spread diseases in recent history. However, there was an influenza pandemic in 1918 with the exact number of deaths still unknown. Some believe that the death toll would have been about 50–100 million people. At the time of writing this article, COVID-19 has infected 5,306,928 persons worldwide (when the article was finalised for publication, the number has increased up to 15,947,291). The article is aimed at analysing the positive and negative impacts of COVID-19 in a sociological perspective. It is further focused on possible challenges to the supply chain in South Asia. South Asian countries are highly influenced by the pandemic situation, and the regional representation is about 4% in the later part of May 2020 with an increasing tendency. Also, the article has a proposal for the control of the disease as well as the entire socio-economic, environmental and political atmosphere in a country, whilst particularly giving more weight to South Asia. The proposed actions are analysed in short-term, mid-term and long-term basis, and any expert and social worker who is involved in the pandemic control process can gain an insight into what to do and how to perform their tasks. A sociological analysis on COVID-19 is very important because there is a wing comprising dominant medical experts in the control and management of the disease. The article emphasises the importance of a sociological analysis in a pandemic situation. Naturally, anyone would think of a pandemic situation in very negative terms due to its emotional, socio-economic, environmental, political and cultural factors. However, it is also positive due to certain factors that help to reintegrate and reorganise the social system as a whole.The main objective of this paper is to discuss the positive and negative impacts of COVID-19 in a sociological perspective with special attention to the supply change in South Asian countries. In addition, the paper proposes a future action plan or COVID-19 recovery action plan for Sri Lanka as a South Asian country. The country is in a COVID19 affected stage and is gradually progressing into a non-affected stage, and this action plan is focused on at least a five-year period.There is no argument that the local economic and social spheres as well as global spheres have been challenged and some sectors have been drastically dismantled (Malpass 2020). Therefore, we need to repose our trust mostly on local spheres which facilitate our basic needs and other socio-economic needs structure. As we know very well, we are in possession of a substantial service sector, rather than industrial and agricultural sectors. In contrast to these sectors, we need to maintain sound industrial and agricultural sectors to maintain a good service sector. However, our industrial sector will be severely damaged due to COVID-19. Especially, the apparel and textile industry will be heavily damaged due to COVID-19, since the pandemic has severely affected giant countries such as the USA and European countries. This will lead to lesser and lesser demand for readymade apparels, thus leading to the closure of many apparel industries in the country. The factories would not be able to overcome this situation since their buyers would cut down all possible avenues to recover from the dire situation. The export volumes of the agricultural and fisheries sectors would decrease, creating negative economic and social impacts on Sri Lanka. Though the World Bank issued a statement on March 30, 2020, it does not provide any forecasts on Sri Lanka or South Asian countries. It focuses only on East Asian and Pacific countries whilst highlighting the poverty incident that would increase dramatically (World Bank 2020c). If the economic situation were to deteriorate further and the lower-case scenario prevails, then poverty is estimated to increase by about 11 million people in these regions. In April 2020, the World Bank illustrates the South Asian context of COVID-19 and its impacts. It says that the impact of the pandemic will hit hard low-income people, especially informal workers in the hospitality, retail trade and transport sectors who have limited or no access to healthcare or social safety nets (World Bank 2020a). Furthermore, it focuses that the Sri Lankan economic growth in the first quarter of 2020 is between 3.0 and − 0.5 and it will remain low throughout the year. It may slowly grow until 2022 with a 2.5% growth rate. The forecast analysis shows that Sri Lanka will struggle with the economy. Thus, the country needs a well-integrated plan to avoid economic hardships as well as social and political tensions. Especially, it needs political stability, high level of mass participation in all sectors, attitude change in domestic production and use, and low level of dependency on foreign aids and foreign goods and services. Especially, it will help to refurbish the domestic supply chain as the countries’ primary target.When the Sri Lankan scenario is looked at, the economic growth has translated into shared prosperity with the national poverty headcount ratio declining from 15.3% in 2006/07 to 4.1% in 2016 (World Bank 2020b). Extreme poverty is rare and concentrated within some geographical pockets; however, a relatively large share of the population subsists on slightly more than the poverty line. However, COVID-19 would increase poverty incidents to some extent since many apparel sector workers are unemployed or under-employed. Foreign migrant labourers are affected due to the situations in their respective countries and they are losing their decent income. Simultaneously, the tourism and hotel industry will be severely affected, sometimes temporarily as Sri Lanka is managing the pandemic situation satisfactorily and this could attract future foreign tourists on the lookout for healthy living. If the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) plans a well-integrated domestic production, strengthening and improvement activities, it will ensure the flow of the national supply chain without any disturbances, and also such a situation may help to gain significant improvements in local and foreign tourism.Within the socio-economic background highlighted above, Sri Lanka needs to have a very comprehensive future action plan to overcome all negative impacts. Especially, it is important to identify the short-term, medium-term, and long-term negative and positive impacts in terms of developing a future action plan or COVID-19 recovery action plan.When focusing on positive impacts the immediate question that may arise is, what are the positive impacts in a global pandemic situation? Sociologically, there is a theoretical perspective and a method called functionalism or functional perspective and this method could be utilised in analysing the impact of social action (Parsons 1951a, b; Rocher 1972; Luhmann 1995; Knudsen 2010). COVID-19 is a social action, and it can also be considered a great social problem on the basis of Richard Puller’s definition. When looked at generally, COVID-19 is a disease spreading through close human contacts in day-to-day social relationships. It is a virus and certain sections also consider this to be a man-made virus or biological weapon. There is no conclusive evidence on who made it or for what purpose. The majority of those directly affected are the elderly and a considerable number of people are dying. The percentage is changing from country to country, and the USA which is highly affected shows that 2.9% of the deaths are amongst these affected persons. The death toll is very high in Italy which is 13%. In Sri Lanka, it is 3.7% and it is a higher figure when compared to India, which is 2.8% (Coronavirus Update (Live): 108,808,073 Cases and 2,395,911 Deaths from COVID-19 Virus Pandemic, 2020). Thus, it is important to understand what the positive impacts are. They are given in the following:1.People are adapting to a pandemic situation, and they also understand what the ideal social behaviour is in a similar situation. This may include government pandemic management systems and policies.2.They learnt about social distancing and its rules, conditions and procedures. Especially, how painful it is but useful within the family and the community. Also, they adapt themselves to the situation whilst contemplating the difference between a normal situation and a pandemic situation.3.As a result of social integration, families and communities engage in a high level of social cohesion or social conscience to face the difficult situation. Hence, everyone is getting used to a common lifestyle, sharing and caring for others, especially the elderly people.4.The death of an elderly or chronically ill person results in a reorganisation or reunion of the family unit. Though it is not an easy task to bear the psycho-social factors, finally they come to certain common conclusions.5.Similarly, the government and regional organisations in the global context may reunite to face the pandemic situation. For example, the SARRC countries reunited over COVID-19 and set up financial allocations for supporting poorer nations. The recent SAARC video conference on COVID 19 has resulted in the establishment of a fund for regional cooperation to combat the pandemic. The giant country India contributed USD 10 million followed by Sri Lanka which contributed USD 5 to the fund. This fund can be utilised for the improvement of domestic and regional production whilst aiming at an uninterrupted supply chain in the agricultural, industrial and service sectors.6.Medical systems in any country will be improved to sustainable levels to face a pandemic situation. They will understand the existing gaps in these systems. Especially, many South and East Asian countries will focus on their indigenous medical systems and how it should be integrated with the biomedical system which shows poorer results. Their dominant authority may be challenged by indigenous medical practitioners due to the strength of the indigenous medical systems to treat COVID-19 patients.7.The global hegemonic power would change and a new hegemonic power relation is taking its place without any brutal war conditions and much economic and social costs. It seems that the USA may lose the hegemonic power, which would be replaced by China and within such a scenario China could achieve its long-term goals. However, it can be delayed and disturbed by the USA through certain economic restrictions against China. Recently, the USA announced that they are willing to withdraw their investments in China. Under such circumstances South Asian countries, particularly India can offer much better economic policies to attract US investments in India. Similarly, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh can grab some such opportunities in certain industrial fields. This may help in improving supply chain values and efficiency in South Asian countries.8.The new hegemonic power may extend its supporting hands to the developing nations and poorer countries. Thus, there will be a competition amongst China, USA and India to support regional countries in South East Asia. The new world order may be a novel experience to the countries and their people. At the beginning it will be optimistic as per the conflict theory in sociology. If it suits the supply chain system in these countries then the people may accept the new order.9.There will be many discoveries and innovations in all affected sectors or spheres at national, regional and global contexts. Most of these would be medical, environment, industry and socio-cultural related. These discoveries and innovations will help to manage the supply chain in South Asian countries.10.The potentials would be in domestic production and services to maintain local traditional lifestyles rather than adapting to modernity. People may repose their trust in many local-level trades and business firms rather than depending on the supermarket systems. These trends strengthen the supply chain network at national and regional levels. Perhaps, there may be some new trading opportunities too amongst regional countries.11.Domestic production could increase due to family or cottage level agricultural practices including other small-scale handicraft productions in society. This may reduce the market demand to some extent and it may also cause negative effects amongst international trades.12.As mentioned above, the pandemic situation may increase the level of innovations amongst the people. Some creative-minded people may introduce much effective and productive primary and secondary things, efficient ways and means of productions, low-cost productions, technological advancements, etc. These trends too may strengthen the supply chain network at national and regional levels.13.People may be attracted to traditional foods and consumption practices mainly based on the human family. Intergenerational social integrity will strengthen and be consolidated by youths. There will be a lesser demand for restaurants and hotel sector supply chains in each level such as national, regional and global due to the social and physical distancing.14.Decline in defence expenditure at national and global levels and minimising the need or requirements in the arms race, especially in nuclear weaponry systems, at least on a temporary basis. Thus, war fear could be minimised in certain regions. This may in turn influence international terrorism and its supply chain networks.15.New ideological constructions in many critical subject disciplines, such as medicine, economics, political science, sociology, psychology, robotic sciences, religious and humanistic sciences. Hence, research and development activities will expand in every country.16.Developments in sociological tool-kits and social engineering skills to deliver efficient services through supply chain networks and management of patients and general public.17.People getting used to do some optional analysis and adapt to follow optimum use of resources, economising resources, and sustainable approaches to satisfy their need structure. These trends may reorganise the supply chain networks in national and regional levels.18.General public may develop some positive altitudes over the special duties performed by various essential services in society, especially, health workers, social workers, police and armed forces who are involved in quarantine processes, etc. However, there should be very efficient supply chains to maintain these services in optimum operation when necessary to society, particularly, in South Asia.19.Reduction in plastic and polythene use at the domestic level, thus reducing the environmental pollution. As a whole, it may contribute to global environmental protection efforts. Especially, it may temporarily reduce greenhouse gases due to the minimum use of vehicles and industries in the world. Perhaps, there may be some climate changes in the environment.20.Reduction in the environmental pollution in the world, regional and national contexts. Mainly, air, sound, and water pollution will be reduced. There are some studies conducted, and they reveal that the pollution level is reduced drastically in all these three sectors.21.Possible formation of further philanthropic ideas amongst the upper hierarchy segments in society. Thus, the domestic supply chain networks should capture these demands effectively.22.If the government is successful in managing the COVID-19 instead of developing a pandemic situation, it can lead to a stable political order in society. Perhaps, the incumbent government could win another term in power as the pandemic situation has provided a great opportunity to compare each country and its skills in the governance of their political regimes.23.Reduction in crimes such as drug addiction, alcoholism, gambling, prostitution or commercial sex, violence and suicide. Again, the supply chain networks in commercial sex, illicit drugs, etc. may change.24.Some countries may amend or introduce specific legislation based on their experiences in the management of COVID-19 pandemic situations. Particularly, trading pacts amongst regional countries may change whilst new pacts may also be formulated.25.Some countries may review policy gaps and take action for policy updates. Sri Lanka needs a policy on indigenous medicine (traditional medicine) which is not covered by the existing health policy in Sri Lanka. It is the right time to respond to the court decision and request a new pharmacopeia with a list of codes.26.More utilisation of the internet for sharing ideas, new knowledge, filtering knowledge gaps, news messages, etc. This may open up more avenues to reduce the stress level of the people.27.Return migrants who are having strong financial resources may invest in Sri Lanka if the socio-economic and political stability established after complete control and management of COVID-19 in Sri Lanka.28.Returning migrants with less or poor financial resources may seek jobs in the apparel sector or plantation sector. Therefore, there will be a high supply in the labour market in the country. This situation may impact the new formation of production and supply chain networks.29.There will be more research on COVID-19, particularly discovering a vaccine and medical strategies which are more effective in patient management. If any new vaccinations are discovered, there will be a massive demand from each country and new supply chain networks will emerge within the health sector.Therefore, positive impacts are relatively high and some impacts are short term and most others are long term. This situation depends on the early stage of April 2020 and the shape could change due to several global socio-economic and political factors. So far, COVID-19 is in a rapid spread tendency in most countries, and there are no sufficient health and socio-economic facilities, especially supply chain networks to address the need structure of the pandemic situation in these countries. When the Indian scenario is analysed, the COVID-19 impacts will be the most painful here when compared to other countries. The social system prevailing in India is not simple in terms of managing the pandemic situation. It is very clear that any society which has a high social disparity may have to face the most negative impacts.The negative impacts towards the family, communities, nations, regions and the world push them backward in any sector or socio-economic and political spheres. Several elements which cause negative impacts can be identified as illnesses or COVID-19, pandemic situation, deaths, social distancing, curfew and the lock-down of the entire functional mechanism of a single society and the global network in production, trade, supply chain networks, transportation, social networking and political network. Therefore, this paper has given similar attention to the negative impacts of COVID-19 at the local, regional and global contexts based on the situation in early April 2020. They are given in the following:1.The pandemic situation has spread as a global pandemic disease which is creating fear, stress, stigma, minimising social networks, etc.2.Health and medical systems, especially biomedical systems, have taken their maximum effort but the healthcare system itself is affected due to various conditions in nature. Thus, there are many deaths reported though the biomedical system has made an enormous effort.3.High rate of deaths due to various illnesses or complications of diseases occurring amongst the patients, especially the elderly who are affected by COVID-19.4.Impossible tasks and challenges to the medical staff, supporting staff, social workers and health administrators at local, domestic and/or global levels. The World Health Organisation (WHO) is the primary entity followed by other United Nations (UN) agencies which are responsible during a regional and/or global pandemic situation.5.Some countries such as Italy, Spain, USA and China and a few other European countries are facing a much higher disintegration in all subsystems of society. Thus, the social system needs a complete reorganisation and integration to survive.6.Dismantling the family relationship and intimate relationships with relatives, neighbours, various communities, etc. These conditions may lead to interpersonal conflicts and domestic violence in the family.7.Losing the knowledge, experience, and services of the elderly would mean that the next generation would not be able to share them for their betterment.8.Downward trends of family economic conditions and several lower hierarchy social classes facing unbearable economic hardships due to lack of daily or monthly earnings. Though there are market accessibility and supply chain network even under the limitation of social mobility, they do not possess the purchasing power.9.Disruptions of schools, universities and vocational education segments where they have to seek certain optional strategies to cover up their educational goals. Especially, they may face some irreversible gaps in their education. All supply chain networks in the education field have been interrupted.10.Some people may face various kinds of stress, social stigma and depression conditions due to the malfunction of the social system.11.Possible social conflicts or conflicts of interests in the subsystems and this may lead towards the social system. Some institutions and organisations may not possess sufficient capacities to find remedial solutions to fill the gaps and issues.12.Decline in religious belief systems and practices in all religions and people may not believe in superstitious powers, in god and other divine and invisible elements in society.13.If the government and its subordinate authorities face some inadequate workable decisions or binding decisions and poor policy applications, it may lead to political instability in society. These conflicts of interests may cause political changes in society.14.Social unrest, stress and social stigma amongst the family members due to their detachment from family as a result of local and international migration. This may get aggravated further through the suspension of continental air transportation under lock-down situations.15.Disruptions in the productions of primary and secondary items in the society. Especially, issues in the production of primary items may lead to social unrest in society. Less demand and lack of proper supply chain networks may aggravate the existing unrest level.16.There are many people who are losing their jobs and incomes in the formal and informal sectors in the society.17.Service providers’ (supply chain networks) inability to continue the day-to-day supply of commodities and other services due to the lack of profit margins. It may lead to detachments from such entities or services, and some people may find alternative solutions. Thus, there may be some temporal decline in supply chains in society.18.People might depend on rumours and other informal channels of information if there is a chaotic condition in formation channels or the dissemination of information. Especially, if there are some loop halls in supply chain networks, these rumours may work rapidly with different social and economic impacts.19.Certain social classes may display their egoistic ideologies at the time of accumulating primary or essential goods and services. This may cause some negative attitudes amongst other social classes by creating conflict of interests.20.Global economic recession and increase in poverty level in society. This may lead to financial crises such as a decline in monetary values, share market values and businesses, changes in supply chain networks, and purchasing power of the people.21.The country has to take alternative action to maintain a stable economy. The developing countries and poor countries may get more loans and grants for their economy to survive. Thus, there will be more economic and political dependency in these countries. As a result of this condition, countries in the hegemonic circle may directly or indirectly fulfil their hidden agendas in the territories of such dependent countries. Being South Asian countries, there are certain common social and economic characteristics that need to be safeguarded during the pandemic situation.22.The pandemic situation will directly influence the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) defined to be achieved by 2030, since some countries may not allocate financial resources to meet the country-specific targets.23.Internal fragmentation may occur in global hegemonic countries, particularly in the USA and they may attempt to regain the hegemonic power through various economic and political strategies. Perhaps, they may go for direct war strategies with other countries or accelerate existing intervention in the Middle-East region.24.Sri Lankans who have been employed in foreign countries may return home and future foreign revenues may reduce. It is one of the major revenue in Sri Lanka, especially the migrant workers in the Middle-East, Europe and East Asian countries made a significant contribution to the Sri Lankan economy. This may cause some effects in supply chain networks in Sri Lanka as well as South Asian countries.25.If the government of Sri Lanka does not engage the returning migrants fruitfully, they may get frustrated and thus cause some vulnerability in the informal sectors of society.When these positive and negative impacts are considered, it is very clear that COVID-19 has caused more positive impacts to the nations, regions and the world, particularly to South Asian countries. However, some countries such as Italy, Spain, the USA, and China and several European countries have suffered a lot. At the time of writing this article, COVID-19 has infected 5,306,928 persons worldwide (when the article was finalised for publication, the number has increased up to 15,947,291). Comparatively, these positive and negative impacts are valid for these countries too, irrespectively of the level of the spread of COVID-19.The proposed future action plan or COVID-19 recovery action plan mainly focuses on the socio-economic, environment and political spheres and not on the medical and technical spheres. Table 1 illustrates this categorically.Table 1 COVID-19 recovery action plan related to socio-economic, environment and political domainsFull size tableWhen these different domains or spheres are looked at, it becomes very clear that there are higher numbers of actions identified under social domains. It implies that COVID-19 is a pandemic situation and it has more critical aspects in the social domain which needs to be looked at through a sociological rather than administrative or political perspective. Furthermore, all responsible officers as well as the public could provide at least a minimum input than all actions highlighted in Table 1. Moreover, most of the proposed actions are focused on short-term and medium-term actions. However, there are some significant actions identified under long-term actions which are related to individual and group level attitudes.All these analyses done and elaborated in different subsections of the paper highlight that there is a pivotal role to be played by the supply chain networks and management clusters in every society. In South Asian countries, the situation in supply chain networks and management is more specific than in other parts of the world because all these countries maintain a dual mode of economy—subsistence and commercial. Particularly, end users and consumers are engaged in some domestic or cottage production systems. If they have a surplus, then they share it with their relatives and neighbours as a cultural habit. Thus, they are not totally dependent on the market system. Some of them sell these domestic products to boutiques. Sometimes they give some value addition as cottage products and try to sustain a stable supply chain network. This situation is seen in many South Asian countries. Therefore, sustainability in supply chain networks in South Asian countries is highly volatile. However, it is obvious that the supply chain networks are influential and of paramount importance under the COVID 19 pandemic situation in South Asian countries.Especially, if the authorities focus on this COVID 19 recovery action plan, it will help protect the family, environment and the nation. Therefore, we need to have an attitudinal change towards a more sustainable control of the pandemic situation in our country. The entire analysis of this paper is mainly based on the researcher’s Sri Lankan and other South Asian countries’ experience, particularly in development planning. The insight will help to manage and control the COVID-19 pandemic situation in South Asian countries. If we are able to adapt to the situation as explained, this approach will help us to maintain a stable and sustainable development programme for these countries, particularly for Sri Lanka.When compared to several historical experiences in managing pandemic situations, this COVID-19 pandemic situation can be used as a development opportunity to enjoy a much higher take-off with a new set of attitudes in the process of development.