The Anti-Terrorism Council is holding an intensive 2-day forum to help companies become more resilient against business disruptions triggered by the impact of climate change.

PROTECT 2010, the fifth in the series of international conference with specialized exhibits to be held at the New World Hotel Makati on April 15-16, 2010, will focus on disaster risk reduction. The PROTECT series is co-organized by the Anti-Terrorism Council and Leverage International (Consultants). Its conference entitled “Doing Business Amidst New Threats” is a continuing annual series since 2005.

The Department of Finance estimated that in 2009 alone, the private sector bore more than 90 percent of the $4.4-billion estimated economic damage and losses due to typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng.

PROTECT 2010 is a unique opportunity for senior executives to draw on and share the research insights of experts for a better understanding of how to reduce risks from the increasing effects of climate change as the country faces increasing severity and frequency of flash floods, typhoons, health hazards, landslides, droughts, tsunamis and other natural disasters.

Amidst prevailing environmental concerns, the PROTECT 2010 Conference Agenda will be devoting significant attention to risks from natural disasters, recognizing that such are as destructive as and should be managed like threats arising from terrorist and man-made attacks. Interested parties may contact leverage@leverageinternational.com to join the forum.

The forum will discuss major business considerations resulting from disasters – their impact on insurance, banking and taxation. Experts have also been invited to discuss the major concerns of business during disasters: Securing sensitive and critical physical facilities, securing information files, managing outsourcing risks, and ensuring business continuity.

Break-out sessions by industry groupings of sectors for which emerging challenges from natural and man-made disasters can significantly affect their operations are part of the conference.
Among these are banks, BPOs, call centers, IT companies, schools, hospitals, hotels, malls, tourist resorts, pharmaceutical companies, telecommunications, critical infrastructures, government and others. A special session is organized for LGUs (local government units). Disaster preparedness, the people side of business continuity, building organizational resiliency, available funding for disaster preparedness programs and risk reduction projects as well as investment incentives for such projects are in the agenda.

The conference will present the Philippine Disaster Management System. Senior officials will update senior business executives on the most recent issues on terrorism from the Asian, Middle East and Western World perspectives.

A specialized exhibit is being organized to complement the international discussions on safety and security. Of greatest interest are communications and IT solutions, first response equipment including vehicles, personal protective equipment, indoor security equipment, biometric equipment and RFID, equipment for maritime security, airport security, police equipment, training and education resources, business continuity and disaster management services and other safety products and technologies especially for banks, BPOs and critical infrastructures.