Thai public-private sectors to jointly prepare for disasters

BANGKOK, April 20 (TNA) - Thailand hosts the Asian Business Forum 2016, aimed to encourage the private sector to join forces with the public sector to cope with growing disasters. Opening the forum in Bangkok on Wednesday, Interior Minister General Anupong Paojinda said that the Thai government realizes the importance of promoting public-private cooperation on disaster responses because disasters are now likely to become more forceful and cause greater damage to businesses. General Anupong recalled that Thailand's severe flooding in late 2011 halted a number of local factories and left more than 2 million people jobless. "The forum let the Thai government and the private sector exchange knowledge in order that they will be aware of possible disasters and be able to jointly cope with disasters which tend to be more powerful now, the interior minister pointed out. Meanwhile, Dr. Krasae Chanawongse, Chairman of the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center, which organized the forum, noted that the United Nations' third conference on disaster risk reduction discussed the roles of the private sector in the risk reduction, urging local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to, thus, prioritize the issue. (TNA)