Asia catastrophe costs set to rise

Asian countries, and particularly China, India and Indonesia, are likely to face much higher losses from natural catastrophes in the future.

In coming decades, as Asian countries economies and infrastructure grow more quickly than their ability to prevent disasters and provide relief, the losses will grow sharply says a report from the Political & Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC).

If governments don’t put the warning systems in place and draw up the plans for relief these countries could see major economic shocks from natural disasters in the future. While disasters cause huge loss of life and affect massive areas in Asia, like the recent Pakistan flooding, they haven’t to date caused the level of economic losses an equivalent disaster in say the U.S. would cause. That will change as these economies develop.

The other factor that will increase disaster losses is a natural change in the landscape as more of it is built on, this will change water run-off zones and if not planned and managed well could add and to or heighten flooding risks.

This projection means that there will be increased risk for foreign investments in the region but also increased opportunity for those seeking to help these countries manage, hedge and recover from these risks.