ABAC Philippines convened the Taskforce on Disaster Recovery Planning and Risk Management under ABAC’s Economy Working Group last March 23 to look at relevant disaster response measures and how these would apply to the pandemic.

The group identified priority issues to focus the discussions on and develop key recommendations to APEC Leaders and Ministers this year. These include disaster response measures, disaster recovery policy frameworks, and disaster insurance and risk sharing models.

To facilitate the discussion, regional experts were invited to talk about, “Vaccines, Pandemic and Disasters.” Anthony Oundjian, the Philippine Country Manager of Boston Consulting Group presented a global update on the ongoing vaccination effort and early learnings and implications for Asia Pacific economies as they ramp-up their own efforts. Denis Hew, Director of APEC’s Policy Support Unit discussed the uneven recovery and unequal impact of the COVID-19 and how APEC is responding to the pandemic. Lesley Cordero, the Senior Disaster Risk Management Specialist of the World Bank shared the necessary adjustments as compound shocks of pandemic and climate change amplify the impact of natural disasters.

“The Taskforce will consider relevant disaster-related scenarios, including the vaccine roll-out as it will have impact on travel and mobility and opening of borders across the region. Our interest would be in a combination of measures – policy recommendations and practical solutions to jumpstart economies in a COVID and post-COVID setting,” said ABAC Philippines’ Bill Luz, the Taskforce Convener.

Presentations:

1. Dr. Denis Hew, Director, APEC Policy Support Unit: Responding to the Pandemic
2. Anthony Oundjian, Managing Director and Senior Partner, Boston Consulting Group: COVID Vaccine Update
3. Lesley Cordero, Senior Disaster Risk Management Specialist, World Bank: Adjusting to Pandemics and Disasters