Singapore -- (SBWire) -- 10/31/2011 --From handling a pandemic to recovering from a 9.0 magnitude earthquake – industry leaders and top business continuity practitioners took stage at the recently held 9th Asia Business Continuity Conference to discuss, deliberate and provide framework on how businesses can survive in today’s high-risk environment.
The two-day conference which was held at the Suntec Singapore International Convention & Exhibition Centre from October 13 to 14 – was also attended by delegates from various industry sectors and countries such as Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mauritius, United Arab Emirates and United Kingdom, to gather insights and respond to this year’s “call to arms” which is Business Continuity Pulse Check: Realign Your Strategies!
Some of the topics discussed were Corporate Governance in Business Continuity Management (BCM), Incident Management Plan for Financial Businesses, Assuring Supply Chain Continuity, Disaster Management in Emerging Countries, and BCM for the Unexpected – which was presented by Shinichi “Nick” Okabe, Chief Consultant of the Tokio Marine and Nichido Risk Consulting Co. Ltd., who shared advice on business continuity planning with relevance to the recent tragedy that hit Japan.
“One of main lessons that we can learn from the recent earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan is that companies should not stop at just having a business continuity plan – they should also be really serious about implementing, testing and continuously improving their strategies,” he said during one of the panel discussions.
Another interesting presentation was BCM for the “Expected” which was conducted by Andrew Durieux, Director and Principal Consultant of Coverage Ltd., who highlighted the importance of developing a business continuity plan based on historical and geographical facts.
While sharing his experience and insights on the riots that occurred in Bangkok, Thailand last year, he revealed that “Most companies (at that time) had no plans or processes for how to manage such an event.” He then advised to cover insurance, transport, alternate site, staff and safety issues when developing a business continuity plan.
Also considered as an event highlight was the Conference Delegate’s Networking Session. During this session, delegates were given the opportunity to participate in any of the six short BCM tutorials conducted and establish contact with other participants as well.
According to Henry Ee, Founder and Managing Director of Business Continuity Planning Asia Pte Ltd (BCP Asia), the main purpose of the session
– and the conference as a whole – was to provide business continuity professionals with the latest trends, developments and ideas.
“Since 2001, the ABCC has provided venue for business continuity practitioners and professionals to network, share knowledge, exchange ideas and benefit from real life experiences. And with this year’s addition of the Conference Delegate’s Networking Session, I believe it has successfully served that purpose yet again,” he said.
The 9th Asia Business Continuity Conference was organised by Business Continuity Planning Asia Pte Ltd (BCP Asia) and co-organised by the Singapore Business Federation (SBF). For information on the 10th Asia Business Continuity Conference,
About Business Continuity Planning Asia Pte Ltd
Business Continuity Planning Asia Pte Ltd (BCP Asia) was founded in 2000 with the aim of promoting and increasing the business continuity awareness and development in Asia Pacific. Built upon a team of dedicated and experienced trainers and in-house consultants, BCP Asia provides an integrated approach specializing in four main areas: Consultancy, Training, Coaching and Internal Audit; pertaining to business continuity, disaster recovery and crisis management. As a leader in the business continuity management industry and to demonstrate our firm commitment to our stakeholders, customers and partners, BCP Asia took the lead to obtain BCM certification. BCP Asia is the first company worldwide to achieve dual BCM certifications in British Standard BS25999:2007 and Singapore Standard SS540:2008.
9th Asia Business Continuity Conference (ABCC)