First APEC Emergency Preparedness Task Force to Meeting in Bali
The foundations for greater regional emergency readiness were laid at the first face-to-face meeting of the APEC Virtual Task Force on Emergency Preparedness in Bali, Indonesia, on May 2-3.
One of the main priorities for the task force at the Bali meeting was to identify gaps in activities and capacity so as to enable APEC member economies to be better prepared to deal with regional disasters.
APEC Senior Officials agreed to establish the virtual task force, jointly chaired by Australia and Indonesia on an interim basis, to unify resources and skills in the APEC community to deal with future emergencies and natural disasters.
Executive Director of the APEC Secretariat, Ambassador Choi Seok Young, said the first meeting of the task force was an important step forward in enhancing the regions' capacity to deal with potential threats to life and property. Since most of the natural disasters are not one-off in nature, the APEC's collective fight against those nature disasters will be a long-term task.
"The Boxing Day Tsunami was a tragic event that reminded us of the importance of the people of our region working together to overcome crises," Ambassador Choi said.
"This not only means working together after a disaster has occurred but cooperating beforehand to combine our intellectual and material resources.
The core aims of the task force are to strengthen preventive measures and enhance preparedness for natural disasters."
"The first meeting of the APEC Virtual Task Force on Emergency Preparedness is establishing the areas in which APEC is best suited to be proactive and complement other forums. It is important that our work does not duplicate the efforts of other forums and relief organizations. The meeting in Bali includes participation from governments, international NGOs, the business sector and representatives from a range of APEC working groups."
Ambassador Choi said the reach of APEC meant that the forum was well placed to facilitate the work of such a task force.
"APEC is a forum that covers a range of critical infrastructure sectors such as telecommunications, energy & transport. The task for us is to ensure these sectors have the capacity to deal with a crisis when it occurs to ensure the immediate safety of local populations.
"Other areas such as tourism and small business have different preparation needs before a crisis. These are the sectors that will be called on to provide jobs and income to ensure the long term recovery following disasters."
The task force is expected to strengthen coordination efforts among APEC Member Economies and fora in relation to disaster relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction in disaster stricken areas. To avoid duplication with work conducted by other regional and international organizations, the APEC virtual task force will focus on undertaking long-term capacity building initiatives to improve regional emergency and natural disaster management capability.