APEC needs to work on disaster response

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member countries are expected to boost cooperation to handle post-disaster situations in the region, USAID’s regional advisor for disaster response and risk reduction, Harlan Hale, said here on Friday.

“Hopefully through APEC, we can make it faster and easier for others to move and help neighboring countries in times of need,” he said as quoted by the Antara news agency.

At the first meeting of APEC’s senior officials in Jakarta in January, Indonesia proposed an easy traveling policy for disaster response officers in Asia Pacific.

Responding to the proposal, Hale said that although it was an interesting concept, its realization would be a challenge as every country had their own immigration and customs rules.

“Trying to find a harmonious way to do that across the huge span of APEC economies will be a bureaucratic challenge,” he said.