20/09/2013 – At their meetings on 19-20 September 2013, APEC Finance Ministers welcomed a prepared by the OECD on disaster risk financing practices in the Asia Pacific region.

 

To address growing concerns raised by APEC member economies’ high exposure to disasters, APEC Finance Ministers launched, last year, an initiative aimed at strengthening practices in disaster risk financing and supporting, within the region, the exchange of knowledge and practices on financial strategies to manage disaster risks.

 

In pursuing this initiative, APEC Finance Ministers aimed to complement work undertaken in 2012 by the G20, which last year endorsed a G20/OECD Methodological Framework for Disaster Risk Assessment and Risk Financing and welcomed a World Bank/Mexico report on country practices in disaster risk assessment and risk financing.

 

The report on disaster risk financing, prepared by the OECD and building on input provided by APEC member economies, is directed to APEC Finance Ministers and presents an overview of policies and practices in disaster risk financing within the APEC region. It highlights efforts that have been made to promote financial resilience against disasters and identifies implementation challenges.  

 

The report outlines priorities identified by APEC economies, such as:

• Strengthening disaster risk assessment – for instance, by improving the availability and quality of data on hazards, exposures, vulnerabilities and losses
• Fostering the development of disaster risk financing markets – and in particular micro-insurance
• Improving the resilience of the financial sector to disaster events – for instance through strong business continuity planning
• Enhancing technical and institutional capacities, and coordination among governmental agencies
• Promoting awareness of disasters and the need for financial protection

Importantly, many APEC economies stressed the value of strengthened cooperation and exchange of knowledge and information within APEC on topics related to disaster risk financing.

 

APEC Finance Ministers expressed interest in promoting further sharing of experiences and called on APEC economies to explore, with the help of the OECD, the ADB, the World Bank, and relevant international organisations, effective approaches that could facilitate the implementation of key priorities identified in the survey report.

 

For further information, please contact Timothy Bishop of the OECD Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs.

 

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