18 December 2014 – APEC Senior Officials identified “Building Sustainable and Resilient Communities” as a key priority area for APEC 2015 at the APEC Informal Senior Officials’ Meeting held last 8-9 December 2014 at the Makati Shangri-la Hotel.
Sustainability and resilience, particularly disaster preparedness and management, took center stage as Typhoon Ruby/Hagupit hit the central Philippines including Legazpi City, Albay where the ISOM was originally set to be held. To ensure the safety of all delegates and to afford the local government to focus on the preparations for the typhoon, the Philippine government deemed it best to transfer the ISOM to Manila.
Seen as a testament to the resilience and preparedness of the host economy, the ISOM further introduced discussions on particular initiatives and work programs to implement the APEC 2015 priority of “Building Sustainable and Resilient Communities”.
“The Asia-Pacific region has disproportionately accounted for the incidence of and damage from natural disasters globally,” said Ambassador Antonio Basilio, Executive Director of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). “Because it is also home to the most complex and dense supply chains, the impact of disasters when they happen are multiplied and take a long time to restore.” APEC economies must be equipped and knowledgeable of how to best prepare for and respond to disaster - from typhoons and earthquakes to health pandemics and food scarcity.
The Symposium on December 08 emphasized promoting the resiliency of infrastructure at the every level beginning at the local and grassroots level. To this end, notable experts from international organizations and the academe gave suggestions including preparing business continuity plans, ensuring greater visibility in supply chains, as well as creating redundancies such as duplicating production bases. At the regional level, measures such as generating information on hazard risks through scientific research, facilitating contingency measures to ensure business continuity, enabling the “creative reconstruction” of affected regions, building resilient infrastructure, and insuring for economic losses were advanced.
The meeting also focused on food security and the marine economy as these issues intimately affect the food supply and sustainability of communities, especially coastal communities. Experts highlighted enhancing regional cooperation in protecting the marine environment and ensuring sustainable livelihood for fishing communities.
APEC 2015 will advance these initiatives and boost cooperation in promoting sustainability and resilience through the Emergency Preparedness Working Group (EPWG) and Policy Partnership on Food Security (PPFS). The Philippines is also set to host the Senior Disaster Management Officials’ Forum (SDMOF), and the High Level Policy Dialogue on Food Security and the Blue Economy (HLPD-FSBE) next year. END