Insurers still optimistic on Asian prospect

However, he and other panellists at the World Economic Forum on East Asia session on “Dealing with the Extreme” are convinced that much remains to be done if Asia is to strengthen its resilience to natural disasters and mitigate damage.
“Mother Nature was unkind to the region,” said Martyn Parker, Swiss Re chairman for global partnerships. Though the disasters last year disrupted the supply-demand equilibrium, “the region’s growth is faster than other areas and that presents more opportunities”, he said.
Still, as not all the damage was covered by insurance, he expects insurance premiums in Asia to rise to 10 per cent of global premiums this year, from 2 per cent. Of the total damage of $370 billion, only about one-third or $116 billion was insured.
Parker said the insurance industry could help mitigate damage by finding out the facts about the insured before selling products or selling micro-insurance products along with micro loans. He also envisions the public-private partnership with governments to help local communities “to help governments refinance the financial liabilities”.
Heizo Takenaka, director, Global Security Research Institute of Keio University, said that public and private sector cooperation is necessary to handle the compound crisis when disasters hit as far as the foreign exchange market, aside from macro and micro management from national governments and local governments. All parties now have to focus on three issues – risk recognition, risk mitigation and risk response. The disasters showed that even the public sector needs business continuity plans.
Anond Snidvongs, executive director of Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency, said Thailand’s flood disasters have prompted the need for engineering designs and a recognition that prevention is necessary as natural disasters have their own cycles.
He suggested that Asian nations pool and share their satellite data on space and ground base and have better communication with local communities to help their citizens better prepare for the disasters.
“In the near future, natural disasters in Asia and elsewhere will drive us to do better,” he said.
As expressed by Tatsuo Hirano, Japan’s minister for reconstruction and comprehensive review of measures in response to the Great East Japan Earthquake, Reconstruction Agency, proper preparation is necessary to minimise damages. Thanks to regular monitoring of infrastructure, the disasters claimed only 19,000 lives when they could have claimed 100,000. As a sign of cooperation with the private sector, the bullet train stopped service shortly after the quake and that led to no casualties and within 49 days rapid transport resumed normal operations. Despite wrong information from the national government, local governments successfully evacuated some residents thanks to regular drills, which also got cooperation from individuals.
In response to emergency like that, “the local and national government must design ways to manage the crisis”, he said.
Helene D Gayle, president and chief executive officer of CARE USA and co-chair of the WEF on East Asia, said that from relief, the organisation’s focus now is on strengthening communities’ resilience to natural disasters as each year 200 million of people in Asia are in affected in some way, to ensure “they are not wiped out every time disasters strike”. Aside from helping with early warning signals, CARE now helps them change their way of living. From livestock vulnerable to floods, some communities are driven towards flood-resistant livestock, for example.
Tristan Lecomte, director of Pur Projet, France, who attended the forum as one of the Young Global Leader, said that to prevent disasters all in the world can help by mitigating the impact of global warming. His activities take place in many parts of the world, mostly involving reforestation as trees are believed to be a source of water, food security and diversity of way of living. The activities, including the one in Thailand, involve funding from private companies.