Firms need to be safeguarded from natural disasters VNTimes

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A United Nations report has highlighted that while fewer people arelosing their lives due to natural disasters in Vietnam , floods,storms and other disasters are still wreaking havoc and causing hugeeconomic losses.

Vietnam has therefore been urged to ensurethorough disaster risk assessments in decision making on investments inthe public and private sectors.

Jerry Velasquez, senior regionalco-ordinator of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction was speakingat a conference to launch the 2013 Global Assessment Report on DisasterRisk Reduction (GAR13) in Hanoi on May 30.

The regional expert said a large portion of the losses were in the private sector, both in direct and indirect ways.

The report, Creating Shared Value: the Business Case for Disaster RiskReduction, shows that direct losses from floods, earthquakes and droughthave been under-estimated by at least 50 percent.

It warns theworld's business community that economic losses linked to disasters are"out of control" and will continue to escalate unless disaster riskmanagement becomes a core part of business investment strategies.

UNDP Deputy Country Director in Vietnam , Bakhodir Burkhanov, said:"Investment decisions are not always made with sufficient attention tohazard exposure. Governments are working on effective disaster responseand preparedness strategies, and businesses can do more to anticipaterisks and to disclose them to regulators and investors."

Burkhanovcalled for wider ownership of disaster risk management in Vietnamacross public and private sector stakeholders following the principlesof shared risks and shared values.

Speaking at the conference,Nguyen Xuan Dieu, Deputy Director of the General Directorate for WaterResources of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said thelatest 5-year review of disaster risk reduction work shows thatfatalities and injuries reduced by 8 per cent compared to that of theprevious 5-year period but economic losses tended to increase. This ispartly due to insufficient attention of businesses to disaster riskreduction work.

The report, with the designation GAR13, is thethird biennial report coordinated by the United Nations Office forDisaster Risk Reduction.

The report is built on the reviews ofnational disaster loss data bases in 40 countries, survey responses from1,300 SMEs in disaster-prone locations in the Americas, and a review ofrisk management in 14 major corporations.-VNA

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