Disaster conference
By Susan Kreifels
multinational
Star-BulletinA South Korean delegation is coming here in November for a disaster prevention conference that other countries are considering attending.
Janis Koh, who is spearheading exports of Hawaii-based services and technology connected to disaster management and prevention, said Thailand, Japan, Mexico and Taiwan also are looking at attending the U.S.-South Korean Disaster Mitigation Conference.
South Korea, often hit by floods and other natural disasters, has earmarked more than $100 million to develop a disaster management and prevention program.
Government and business officials here hope to cash in on some of that business by making Hawaii a center for developing disaster-management programs in other nations. They say Hawaii offers more organizations and services specializing in the area than any other state.
The Korean government recently spent $500,000 on new radar systems, Koh said. South Korea spends about $1 billion a year on disaster prevention and recovery. Earlier this month, a Korean delegation visited Hawaii organizations including the Hawaii State Civil Defense, Kapiolani Community College Department of Emergency Medical Services, the R.M. Towill engineering firm, the Center for Excellence in Disaster Management & Humanitarian Assistance, the Department of Business Economic Development & Tourism Energy Division, and various elected government officials to look at disaster management, technology and services in the state. Then they traveled to Washington, D.C.
Marketing U.S. technology and services to help other countries develop disaster management and programs is a new area in which Hawaii officials believe they have a head start. Koh said the U.S. Commerce Department will fund travel for another South Korean delegation to visit Washington later this year.
"They realize the growth potential," Koh said.
The Korean government is especially interested in developing private flood insurance, Korean officials said in recent interviews here. Now the government pays for all damage in the country, and that has become too costly, they said.
Developing such insurance means hiring private companies for mapping and other services.
Kim Jie-Soon, director general of South Korea's Bureau of Civil Defense and Disaster Management, said private and government organizations in his country do not work side by side during disasters as happens in the United States.
