The cost of natural disasters in Indonesia

Indonesia's history of natural disasters shows that impacts can be frequent and severe, threatening both lives and economic development. The 2004 Aceh earthquake and tsunami caused economic losses of IDR 51.4 trillion (USD 3.5 billion), far exceeding the 3-10 trillion IDR available in the disaster reserve fund (APBN). The Indonesian Ministry of Finance has therefore developed a disaster management risk financing strategy, Pembiayaan dan Asuransi Risiko Bencana (PARB), including a Disaster Pooling Fund (PFB), to ensure that financing can be provided to protect state finances, government assets and the community.

But how can we be sure that the financial resources available to PARB are adequate? In order to answer this question, we need a multi-disciplinary approach that can help us understand not only the natural hazards that beset Indonesia, but also reliably estimate potential impacts and economic loss.

The inaugural ANU Indonesia Institute Interdisciplinary Event brings together experts from Institut Technologi Bandung, the ANU School of Earth Sciences and Arndt-Corden Department of Economics to discuss progress in this area. Presentations will focus on major improvements in predicting earthquakes and other hazards, as well as development of exposure data that can help us forecast natural disaster impacts and costs. Join us for afternoon tea and an interactive discussion with panelists.

Speakers:

• Dr Riantini Virtriana, Bandung Institute of Technology, Indonesia - "Exposure data analysis for damage and loss calculation of risk assessment"
• Professor Phil Cummins, ANU - "'Black Swans' and seismic risk in Indonesia"
• Professor Budy P. Resosudarmo, ANU - "Is universal disaster index-based insurance feasible for Indonesia?"