Officials and delegates from member
economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) will tackle disaster risk
financing when they meet at the SMX Convention Center here on April 29 to 30.
The discussion, which carries the
theme "Disaster Risk Finance-APEC Roadmap of Resilient Economies," is
jointly organized by the Department of Finance, the APEC Business Advisory
Council (ABAC), and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
The discussion opens on Wednesday
with a session on the microfinance landscape in the Asia-Pacific region that
seeks to provide a background for APEC member economies, using the
Microinsurance Network’s World Map of Microinsurance (WMM).
It is a platform for knowledge
generation and sharing on microinsurance. Participants will study key
developments in the microinsurance market covering market development
strategies, financial education, and trends in the use of traditional and
innovative models, among others.
In the second session on Wednesday,
delegates will deliberate on how to push the frontiers of microfinance, and
showcase innovations in the sector, including those in agricultural insurance,
mobile-based and other types of distribution channels, and parametric- or
index-based microinsurance.
It will discuss the requirements for
facilitating the expansion of these innovations, including appropriate
infrastructure, internal capabilities, and external partnerships.
The meeting also aims to tackle the
possibility of collaboration between government and industry, based on
experiences within and outside the APEC.
In the succeeding session, attendees
will discuss the role of microfinance in responding to calamities, which is a
concern among poor APEC member economies.
The session will focus on the role
of microinsurance in helping individual households address their needs, such as
rebuilding of houses, access to capital to restart businesses, and securing
funds for daily subsistence, once disaster strikes.
After that, the delegates will
consider ways to move forward as APEC member economies incorporate microfinance
in the Cebu Action Plan, which will be launched in September.
The session will examine the options
for moving forward, including proposed activities and timelines.
The last session on Wednesday will
be “Disaster Risk Finance: An Overview of the Current Situation and
International Initiatives.”
On Thursday, April 30, participants
will discuss “Institutional Arrangements for Disaster Risk Mitigation and
Adaptation.”
In the wake of disasters,
governments are the first responders at various levels and must undertake
immediate resumption of basic services to accelerate recovery and provide
relief measures for local communities.
This session will look into the
budget and institutional arrangements for mitigation and adaptation; assess the
importance of raising public awareness; and identify measures that will
facilitate the functioning of disaster risk finance, focusing on risk education
and awareness, business continuity plans for small enterprises, businesses’
risk-informed investments, and how to maximize the use of risk information.
The session will also explore
potential regional initiatives to support disaster risk financing, and examine
such regional initiatives as the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility
in the hope of developing ideas that could be adopted by APEC member economies.
It will also seek to identify ways
to address the lack of available data, which is a major impediment in the
evaluation of disaster risk.
Issues such as the collection and
disclosure of relevant regional, domestic and local data, including hazard,
exposure and vulnerability; the establishment, adjustment and disclosure of
municipal level hazard maps; and the use of disaster risk models will also be
given special attention.
The last session on Thursday will
discuss the way forward for disaster risk finance in the Cebu Action Plan.
(PCOO News Release)
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