12 - Identifying Priorities of Asian Small- and Medium-Scale Enterprises for Building Disaster Resilience

Abstract

Asia is leading the urbanization race compared to other regions of the world. The private sector is one of the main drivers of this growth. The urban areas (largely the coastal cities) pose a major challenge to development gains due to increasing population and unregulated growth coupled with high exposure to hydrometeorological hazards. Past disasters in Asia suggest a greater loss of the private sector in comparison to the public sector. In most Asian economies, small- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) make up a major part of the private sector’s investment and are among the highest employment generators. At this point, it can be said that involving SMEs in disaster management is an effective way to reduce the impact of future disasters in urban areas. This chapter looks into the possible involvement of SMEs in urban resilience that is essential for their own survival, drawing heavily from the good practices of Japan and Thailand against the backdrop of recent disasters. In terms of creating a future road map, the following priority areas of actions are identified, based on the lessons learned from the aforementioned case studies and the present risk of SMEs in an Asian context: reducing the risk to infrastructure; securing the supply chain; securing local markets; securing livelihoods and business through financing; strengthening risk insurance; and business continuity planning.