A Business Resilience forum conducted on 17 July, 2019 organized by the Preparedness Partnership of Cambodia (PPC) served to present and validate the survey results of a study to assess disaster preparedness and resilience capacity of business owners in Cambodia. The study, ‘’Developing indicators for resilience of Micro Small Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs) in Asia’’, was carried out by Integrated Research on Disaster Risk (IRDR) with support from Federation of Associations for Small and Medium Enterprises of Cambodia (FASMEC) and analyzed responses from more than 150 SMEs in the country.
This research conceptualized from a disaster preparedness lens aimed to assess understanding, practices, participation, and commitment regarding disaster preparedness among MSMEs in Cambodia. The outputs of this research will help increase business knowledge and technical skills of MSMEs to augment their business resilience for the growing economy of Cambodia.
Presenting the findings to the participants, the majority of whom were SME owners themselves, helped clarify about the key issues facing businesses owners in the country in view of disaster resilience including awareness, existing mitigation measures and previous experience of disaster events. Overall, the regional study aims to capture around 130 – 150 responses for the countries included in the survey, including APP countries: Cambodia, Pakistan, Myanmar, Philippines, Nepal.
Additionally, the forum also provided an opportunity for FASMEC to present their planned Preparedness Partnership of Cambodia (PPC) activities under Asian Preparedness Partnership and proposed workplan for the next three years. Planned activities include capacity building, awareness raising, knowledge sharing and communication, stakeholder coordination.
