British business task force to assess tsunami needs
PHUKET: A delegation of senior British businesspeople under the banner of the Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF), is currently visiting Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi as part of a tour of tsunami-stricken areas in Asia.
The IBLF and the business leaders make up what they have dubbed “The Tsunami Business Task Force”, formed to assess local needs in Thailand, India and Sri Lanka.
The task force comprises 15 representatives of the world’s leading businesses, including Abbot Laboratories, Accenture, Alcan Inc, Cadbury Schweppes, Deloitte, ERM Group, Manpower, Nestlé and Standard Chartered.
It aims to review what lessons can be learned from relief efforts and to help plan strategies for effective long-term involvement by businesses in sustainable recovery projects.
Linda Cruse, Project Director of the IBLF, told the Gazette at that there was still a lot to do in the region. She said that the IBLF realizes that there is a problem with unemployment after the tsunami, and that the organization aims to work toward solving this problem so that parents will be able to take care of their families.
“It is really important to take care of small and medium-sized enterprises. We want to help people restart their businesses. We think about what we should do, what the market needs and we come up with business ideas to help them,” she said.
After the Thailand leg of their trip, which will end on Friday, the team will visit India and then Sri Lanka.
Results and conclusions will be reported as recommendations for follow-up action in relief, recovery and reconstruction.
