APEC experts meet on plan to help SMEs survive disasters
9 December 2013
Disaster management experts and officials met in Bangkok on 5-6 December to finalise a guide to help governments better prepare businesses for disasters. The meeting is part of an Australian-led APEC project to boost the resiliency of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the region.
Almost three-quarters of the world’s natural disasters occur in the Asia Pacific and these disasters are increasing in frequency and intensity. Recent APEC surveys show that, despite the rising threat posed by these disasters, only 13% of SMEs have a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) in place and that over half of the have never heard of the concept. As a result, most SMEs remain unprepared for the fallout from calamities, leading to ongoing business disruptions, financial losses, breakdowns in regional supply chains and the collapse of communities.
SMEs make up over 90% of private companies in the Asia Pacific and employ over 50% of the region’s workforce. As such, they are the backbone of regional economies. In 2011, following a string of regional catastrophes, APEC Leaders called on government officials from the grouping’s 21 members to better promote and facilitate the use of business continuity planning among SMEs ‘to prepare them for natural disasters and to mitigate their impacts’. Australia, in partnership with several economies, has conducted a series of workshops in 2012 and 2013 in response to the APEC Leaders’ call for action.
Experts attending the Bangkok meeting include Aslam Perwaiz of the Bangkok-based Asian Disaster Preparedness Center; Dr Li Wei-Sen from Chinese Taipei’s National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction, Takahiro Ono, visiting researcher at Japan’s Asian Disaster Reduction Centre and Nick Barker from Australia’s Emergency Management Australia organisation.
Front row from left: Dr Li-Wei-sen, chairman of APEC’s Emergency Preparedness Group and Deputy Executive Secretary of the National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction, Chinese Taipei; Ono Takahiro, Researcher, Asian Disaster Reduction Centre, Kobe; Marizon Loreto, Regional Director, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Philippines; Angeline Gonzalez, specialist, DTI, the Philippines; Amornthip Paksuchon, Manager, Department of Disaster Planning and Mitigation, Thailand.
Back row from left: Leslie Williams, Director, APEC Branch, Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; Julie McDonald, APEC Branch, DFAT; Nick Barker, Emergency Management Australia; Aslam Perwaiz, Head of Disaster Risk Management Systems, Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPR), Thailand; Chanidabha Yukadatta, Project Assistant; ADPR, Thailand.