Building innovative, inclusive and resilient global value chains

Future is an unpredictable certainty that everyone would like to control. With all the advancements of technology, the Future remains out of grasp. However, the closest thing that one can do to be there is to prepare oneself in such a way that no matter what the Future will be, one is able to face it. With anything that is unknown, the preparation needs to be as broad-based as possible to be able to handle different possibilities. The current situation across the world is such a situation with unpredictable certainty with the spread of the different variants of the COVID-19 virus. Evidence-based research has revealed that the strategic ability of some Global Value Chains (GVC) has facilitated recovery from inevitable vulnerabilities and unexpected events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic more effectively than others. This has more recently triggered a policy debate about Innovative, Inclusive and Resilient Value Chains. Innovative, Inclusive and Resilient Value Chains are in a way broad-based preparation that aim at developing the adaptive capability of them to prepare for the unexpected events and to respond to disruptions and recover from them. Within this context, this special issue will analyse the process of building Innovative, Inclusive and Resilient Value Chains, and their impact on the socio-economic development of Asia and beyond.