The Southeast Asia Disaster Risk Insurance Facility (SEADRIF) Insurance Company, a regional initiative supporting disaster risk financing solutions, and the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management (AHA Centre), the regional body for disaster response coordination, has recently entered into a Memorandum of Intent (MoI) in Bali, Indonesia.
The agreement establishes a framework for collaboration to enhance disaster impact reporting and to support the development of scalable risk financing approaches aimed at strengthening regional preparedness.
According to SEADRIF Insurance Company, the MoI was signed during its inaugural Knowledge Exchange Day, co-hosted by the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia.
The event brought together over 70 participants from ASEAN+3 member states and partner institutions, including representatives from governments, regional organisations, development agencies, and the insurance and reinsurance sectors working in disaster risk financing (DRF) and climate resilience.
SEADRIF Insurance Company noted that discussions during the event highlighted Indonesia’s progress in DRF initiatives. These included the national disaster fund (Pooling Fund Bencana), the public asset insurance programme, and ongoing work related to catastrophe risk modelling and parametric insurance.
Contributions from Lao PDR and the Philippines, as referenced by SEADRIF Insurance Company, provided perspectives on the implementation of national and regional DRF solutions in collaboration with the facility. The programme also included updates on SEADRIF Insurance Company’s evolving initiatives.
SEADRIF Insurance Company indicated that the partnership with the AHA Centre represents a step towards linking disaster response mechanisms with financial protection at a regional level. The collaboration is expected to support improvements in the consistency and quality of disaster impact reporting.
Under the MoI, both organisations will consider the development of a regional insurance mechanism designed to enable pre-arranged financing for rapid humanitarian response and recovery following natural disasters affecting ASEAN Member States.
As outlined by SEADRIF Insurance Company, areas of cooperation are expected to include technical exchanges on DRF and its alignment with operational response frameworks under the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response (AADMER); the application of historical disaster data in insurance product development; and the organisation of joint workshops and simulation exercises connecting disaster response systems with financial trigger mechanisms.
Both parties are expected to assess feasibility, refine technical methodologies, and explore collaborative solutions in accordance with their respective mandates.
Benedikt Signer, Chief Executive Officer of SEADRIF Insurance Company, commented: “Effective disaster risk financing starts with credible data. This partnership with the AHA Centre is a step to push further in reimagining how insurance solutions in ASEAN can directly build on governments’ own data and be integrated with core response systems.”
Lee Yam Ming, Executive Director of the AHA Centre, added: “We believe in the importance of disaster risk financing as a complement to humanitarian response systems. By enhancing regional cooperation and improving disaster reporting systems, we can support more predictable and timely financing that enables faster assistance to communities affected by disasters across ASEAN.”
