Approximately two hundred Small and Medium Enterprises, in addition to flood-affected communities in Ayutthaya province will engage in a project to reduce disaster risk through business continuity planning and management.

The project, ‘Private Sector Engagement in Natural Disaster Risk Reduction for Resilient Economies through Business Continuity Planning and Management’ specifically targets small and medium enterprises in Thailand.

With support from JTI Foundation, Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), in partnership with the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) and Office of Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion (OSMEP), and technical assistance with United Nations for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), Asian Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC), Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Emergency Preparedness Working Group (APEC EPWG) and Singapore Business Federation have initiated the project, ‘Private Sector Engagement in Natural Disaster Risk Reduction for Resilient Economies through Business Continuity Planning and Management’.

The overall objective of the project will be to improve disaster resilience by increasing awareness among SMEs, supporting SMEs to engage effectively with local government in risk reduction activities, and documenting and disseminating the lessons in Ayutthaya and other provinces in Thailand. Through the project, ADPC aims to continue promoting public-private partnership (PPP) and support the Thai government in strengthening PPP throughout the country.

Building on its experience from around the region, ADPC will apply lessons learned to further promote public-private partnerships in Thailand.

The key result areas and activities include:

1. Strengthening SMEs resilience to natural disaster risks and adaptation to climate change;
2. Developing practical guidelines and build capacities to develop Business Continuity Plans (BCPs); and
3. Knowledge exchange to share best practices to assist SMEs in Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) region through a SME Community Forum.

Additional activities include:

• In-depth study on SMEs vulnerability to natural disasters;
• Identify the current government policy framework on assisting SMEs to prevent, respond and recover from natural disasters;
• Capacity-building and awareness for SMEs leading to Business Continuity Plans; and
• Supporting SMEs to engage and plan with local government on disaster risk reduction