Privatizing Emergency Assistance: China’s Emerging Model

1. Privatizing Emergency Assistance: China’s Emerging Model Eva Lerner-Lam, President Palisades Consulting Group, Inc. Prepare, Mitigate, Respond and Recover: Engineers’ Involvement with Local Disasters ASCE Committee on Critical Infrastructure November 1, 2007 Orlando, FL

2. Disasters are a Big Problem in China • China estimates that natural and man-made disasters account for a six percent loss in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) every year

3. Developing Advanced Emergency Assistance Capacity • China is emerging from 150 years of isolation. • Research & development, manufacturing and distribution capabilities, which would support civil self-rescue, are just beginning to develop

4. Innovative Base of Emergency Industry (IBEI) • To promote industrial development, China has established the China Emergency Assistance Investment Co., Ltd. • One example: A new, national, Innovative Base of Emergency Industry (IBEI)

5. IBEI will: • Be global in scope • Develop advanced technologies and equipment for emergency assistance • Seek joint ventures with multinational corporations

6. IBEI will be China’s National Center for: • Production research and development • Production manufacturing • Production trade • Production logistics • Production storage • Education and training • Support for industrial business and international exchange

7. IBEI Products and Services • Digital rescue products • Information exchange platform for emergency assistance industry • Integrated marketing platform for emergency assistance products • Logistics and storage platform for manufacturers and distributors • Vocational education and training platform • Industrial regulation • Standards development and enforcement

8. Future Plans for Growth • IBEI will be built as a Headquarters-Base • It will be connected to other regional, specialized Branch-Bases

9. Location of Headquarters-Base • Will be in the area between the fourth and fifth Ring Road of Beijing. • 1,000,000 sq meters • Total investment is approximately RMB 1 billion (US $133 million).

10. IBEI Benefit Analysis • Presently, China has 683 cities, 2400 countryside, nearly 80,000 communities, 25,000 villages and towns, 800,000 large-medium enterprises, 400,000 foreign enterprises, 261 coast ports, 21,000,000 meter long, 500,000 professional safeguard.

11. IBEI Benefit Analysis • The estimated fund investment for emergency rescue equipment will be • 60,000,000 RMB(US$ 8,000,000)/city • 500,000 RMB(US$ 66,667)/community • 250,000 RMB(US$ 33,334)/town • 500,000 RMB(US$ 66,667)/enterprise • 30,000 RMB(US$ 4,000)/safeguard • 5,000,000 RMB(US$ 666,667)/coast port • 10,000 RMB(US$ 1,333)/pipe-line • Subtotal: 816.5 billion RMB(US$ 108 billion)

12. First Domestic, then Global • China has US$ 416 million potential exports for UN stock • Other private enterprise products and services for international customers

13. In Summary • China seeks to enhance policies, technological equipment, production types and quality for emergency assistance by establishing the IBEI. • The cost effectiveness of emergency industry can be realized both from domestic market and international emergency market.

14. In Summary • Disaster and emergency events caused the huge economic loss on economic loss and spirit loss for human being. • From 1996 to 2000, the total economic loss around the world with 235 billion US dollar was paid out by disaster and emergency events. • Through the establishment of IBEI, the national production R&D, manufacture and circulation capability for the emergency assistance industry will be promoted rapidly, thus benefiting societies both in China and internationally.