Building Resilience in Southeast Asia: Promoting risk reduction investments and innovative disaster risk finance solutions

Despite a long tradition of coping with water and weather variability, floods, droughts and extreme weather events remain a serious challenge in the Southeast Asia region. Its ability to manage the increasing impact of disasters will have important implications on growth and development agendas.

Cambodia faces a variety of hazards, with floods, storms and droughts as the most prevalent. Typhoon Ketsana in 2009, as well as pervasive floods in 2011 and 2014, caused damages and losses of $132 million, $625 million, and $357 million, respectively. Roads are a particularly vulnerable yet critical sector for the economy and country’s growth.

Lao PDR experienced major typhoons in 2009 (Ketsana) and in 2011 (Haima), and severe flooding in 2013. Most recently in 2018, floods across the country caused $371.5 million in damages and losses, making it the most expensive disaster in the past 10 years. A large share of Lao PDR’s population is considered highly vulnerable to disaster impacts.

Cyclone Nargis was one of the worst disasters to hit Myanmar, causing large loss of lives and destruction. More recently, severe floods and landslides in 2015 are estimated to have caused production losses to the economy in 2015-16 of about 1.7 percent of 2014 GDP. Myanmar’s vulnerability is exacerbated by rapid and unplanned development, especially in cities.

Recognizing the links between development, sustainability, and resilience in Southeast Asia, the Japan-World Bank DRM Program provided a $2.5 million grant for Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Myanmar with the goal to help identify strategic investments and opportunities in disaster risk reduction, risk financing, and hydro-meteorological systems.