Immediate Disaster Response, Insurance among Economies Crafted in APEC Cebu

(PIA7) —- Asia Pacific Economic Conference (APEC) member-economies discussed ways for immediate and less costly disaster response during the meeting in Cebu.

Dr. Alan Bollard, executive director of the APEC Secretariat, said that included in the discussions of APEC delegates are finalizations of “Disaster Risk Finance-APEC Roadmap of Resilient Economies” which is included in the soon-to-be launched Cebu Action Plan.

Bollard, in a briefing at the International Media Center, said the discussions about disaster risks and management among APEC economies had been ongoing earlier this year.

Disaster, he said, is an issue common among APEC member-economies and had greatly affected economic activities.

“We’re talking about how to ensure we can get equipment quickly into countries and across borders when there is a natural disaster,” Bollard said.

This after certain provisions imposed oftentimes prevented easier and faster transfer of needed equipment during or immediately after a natural disaster.

Other important suggestion is disaster risk financing and disaster insurance, an initiative he said is led by the Philippines which has been coping a number of disasters over the years.

It was reported earlier that the Philippines has secured the assistance of World Bank in developing an insurance framework wherein disaster-prone provinces will pool risks and then have these risks insured collectively.

In case a province is hit by disaster, it can file claims from the insurance facility.

Implementing it in a regional scale was studied by the APEC members.

Other topics in the APEC meetings in Cebu include urbanization and building better cities, ridding regions of illegal logging trade, international money maundering, corruption, and terrorist financing.

Over 80 meetings are held in Cebu from August 22 until September 11. (rmn/fcc/PIA7-Cebu)