The Canterbury earthquake series: Business impacts overview

Joanne Stevenson, Erica Seville and John Vargo

APEC SME Monitor, Issue 1, May 2012,  p 6-9

Abstract

Recently, the global economy is experiencing signs of slowing down, and natural disasters have increased sharply in nearly every decade. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are facing continuous natural disasters and potential impacts, such as disruptions to the global supply chains, difficulties of access to financing and rising material and transportation costs. In order to improve the resilience to natural disasters and management capabilities of SMEs, Chinese Taipei has proposed a multi-year project in assisting APEC SMEs for facilitating trade and investment in the region. Thanks to all APEC member economies' supports, this project is approved by APEC SMEWG (Small and Medium Enterprises Working Group) and aims to:

1. Enhance the awareness of SMEs and governments on natural disaster risks;
2. Share best practices and assist SMEs to implement disaster preemptive mechanisms; and
3. Identify threats and possible solutions for SMEs.

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