Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic, we have been receiving video messages of support from our CDF delegates from top 500 companies, which have earlier contributed to helping China and now the world in coping with coronavirus. With the outbreak turned into a global crisis, we need more global endeavor and greater cooperation in the fight against the pandemic.

Today’s video is from Kevin Sneader, Global Managing Partner of McKinsey.

He said that: “Let me start by expressing my thanks to Secretary Lu Mai and the China Development Forum for their engagement throughout what has been a difficult period, one that continues to offer challenges to the world as a whole.”

“We are appreciative of the many others, the frontline healthcare workers who have really been tackling this from the front, and those of us who have been helping and has been doing so in different way. We know that this problem, this challenge, has not yet been overcome. But we are confident that we will be.”

The following is the full speech.

Hello. I am Kevin Sneader, Global Managing Partner of McKinsey.

Let me start by expressing my thanks to Secretary Lu Mai and the China Development Forum for their engagement throughout what has been a difficult period, one that continues to offer challenges to the world as a whole.

During this period, the inspiration of the Chinese people had provided and the hard found lessons they had shared with the world have also helped us guide our firm and others towards the future, that is after the coronavirus has been conquered.

Today we have well over a thousand colleagues in China. And throughout this period of the virus, our concerns have been with their health and wellbeing. We are grateful to all of those who have provided support to them.

But now that this virus has become a global challenge, we are also seeking to do what we can to help address it. And to do that, we have really been trying to tackle this situation from five angles.The first is to help resolve the right approach to take, and we have seen that happen across the world.

The second is to think about resilience. How do we ensure that, individually and collectively, the institutions that we represent have the resilience needed to overcome this pandemic.

Thirdly, we have been thinking very hard about the future. And bringing employment back, a return to work, one where livelihoods can be protected, just as lives have been saved through the actions of those who are addressing this pandemic.

We are looking at reimagination. Reimagining what this world indeed, the companies and the society that we live in, will be, and how it will have been reshaped by what has happened.

And lastly, reform. Changes need to occur to prevent a pandemic of this kind, or at least, to ameliorate and address its effects as best as possible.

We are committed to working on this. And we are also appreciative of the many others, the frontline healthcare workers who have really been tackling this from the front, and those of us who have been helping and has been doing so in different way.

We know that this problem, this challenge, has not yet been overcome. But we are confident that we will be.

We thank the people of China for their inspiration in doing so. Thank you.