Griffith APEC Study Centre fellow Dr Alex Robson, today presented at the 2015 APEC Study Centre conference, addressing over 100 researchers, government and APEC officials on disaster financing in the Australian context.
Dr Robson’s presentation focused on fiscal risks and contingent budgetary liabilities that arise as a result commitments from government providing relief in response to natural disasters.
APEC member-countries alone suffered around $70 billion natural disasters over the last decade. The Philippines, as host economy of APEC 2015 has made disaster resilience in ensuring sustained economic gains, as one of its priorities for this year’s APEC Leaders’ meeting.
APEC’s 21 member-economies, which account for about 58 percent of the world’s economic output, 59 percent of the world’s population, experience over 70 percent of global natural disasters.
Dr Robson shared Australia’s experience in responding to natural disasters in terms of government coordination and funding responsibilities. His research drew upon a recent enquiry undertaken by Australia’s Productivity Commission in which policy frameworks can be adapted so that disaster-related contingent liabilities can be best managed, often taking advantage of possibilities offered by insurance.
Hosted by the Philippine Study Centre Network, the ASCC Conference serves as an avenue for researchers and scholars to discuss and exchange ideas on the APEC themes and to identify areas for regional collaboration among APEC Study Centers. The conference was organized by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) and the Philippine APEC Study Center Network (PASCN) in cooperation with the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) and the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI). It was part of the Second Senior Officials Meeting (SOM2) and Related Meetings of APEC held in Boracay on 12-13 May.
