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Morning Summary

By
Haruhiko Kuroda
President
Asian Development Bank

At the High Level Coordination Meeting on Rehabilitation and Reconstruction of Tsunami-Affected Countries

ADB Auditorium, Mandaluyong City
18 March 2005

Appreciation to Speakers

We greatly appreciate the presentations by delegates from the tsunami affected countries:

Hon. Hamdun Hameed, Minister of Planning and National Development from Maldives;

Hon. Dr. Alwi Shihab, Coordinating Minister for People’s Welfare from Indonesia;

Mr. K.S. Siddhu, Chief Coordinator, TRP, Planning Commission from India;

Mr. Mano Tittawella, Chairman, Task Force for Rebuilding the Nation from Sri Lanka; and

Ms. Supa Piyajiti, Inspector General, Ministry of Finance from Thailand. The status reports have given us a better idea of what has already been done and what remains to be done over the coming years.

Likewise, we greatly appreciate the presentations by Mr. Labanyendu Mansingh, Secretary of Consumer Affairs, India; Mr. Yasunobu Konishi and Mr. Keiji Nakai, both from the Hyogo Prefecture Government in Japan. The lessons learned from past earthquakes in Gujarat and Kobe have been enlightening as we apply them to circumstances of the earthquake and tsunami of last 26 December.

Furthermore, we appreciated the video address of two former US presidents who serve as spokespersons for the UN tsunami relief efforts. Their words were inspiring.

Points

We can say that the morning session helps to highlight issues and so sets the stage for afternoon sessions where I hope we can develop a few concrete proposals for action to address these points.

I have some general observations about this morning’s presentations. For example,

On the Gujarat and Kobe Presentations:

• The importance of quick, effective and well-coordinated government emergency response can not be underestimated.
• Strong and continuous coordination between government and nongovernmental sectors is crucial (e.g., soup kitchens run by NGOs in Gujarat).
• Continuous monitoring of relief, recovery and rehabilitation is necessary.
• Holistic approaches including capacity building and livelihood restoration was emphasized. This includes rebuilding self-reliance.
• There must be a visionary strategy going beyond just reconstruction.
• Lessons learned include including strong participatory approaches such as grievance mechanism.
• The need to ensure accountability and transparency

On the Country Presentations, some crosscutting themes

• Rescue relief was speedy and efficient, disease outbreaks were avoided.
• Feeling that business as usual will not work (efficiency and participation) in Indonesia
• Close cooperation between levels of government was mentioned.
• Response to future disasters through improved infrastructure and awareness programs.
• Belief that cooperation/harmonization will be addressed through trust fund (Maldives), through centralized command structure (India), through integrity of oversight board (Indonesia).
• Private Sector and NGOs need to be included

In Particular, I noted the following:

Role of development partners: donors need to give consistent signals to local governments regarding coordination mechanisms; participate in independent oversight board; and provide technical assistance to fill in gaps.

Financial Governance: The message seems to be transparency, transparency, transparency. The concept of trust fund will help ensure this.

Summary

In summary, I believe that this morning’s session was very helpful to better understand disaster-related issues facing us all. The morning deliberations represent a very good lead into this afternoon’s sessions on the five topics that will guide our discussions. Indeed, this was an excellent beginning and I look forward to our deliberations after lunch.

Thank you.