APEC Project Proposal

Project No.TPT 02 2012
Project TitleWorkshop on Global Supply Chain Resilience
Project StatusCompleted Project
Publication (if any)
Fund AccountOperational Account
Sub-fundNone
Project Year2012
Project SessionSession 3
APEC Funding60,067
Co-funding Amount99,587
Total Project Value159,654
Sponsoring ForumTransportation Working Group (TPTWG)
TopicsTransportation
CommitteeSOM Steering Committee on Economic and Technical Cooperation (SCE)
Other Fora InvolvedAPEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC);Emergency Preparedness Working Group (EPWG)
Other Non-APEC Stakeholders Involved
Proposing Economy(ies)United States
Co-Sponsoring EconomiesCanada;China;Chinese Taipei;Thailand
Expected Start Date01/10/2012
Expected Completion Date30/09/2013
Project Proponent Name 1Michael Lowder and Janet Benini
Job Title 1Director, Office of Intelligence, Security and Emergency Response
Organization 1US Department of Transportation
Postal Address 11200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590
Telephone 11-202 3664550
Fax 1Not Applicable
Email 1janet.benini@dot.gov
Project Proponent Name 2Ms Victoria Waite
Job Title 2Chief of Party, APEC TATF
Organization 2Nathan Associates
Postal Address 235 Heng Mui Keng Terrace, Singapore 119616
Telephone 265-68919657
Fax 265-69819690
Email 2vwaite@nathaninc.com; vw@apec.org
DeclarationJanetBenini and Victoria Waite
Project Summary

This workshop seeks to develop and share practical information about the steps needed to help improve emergency preparedness and resilience of the supply chain, and steps to reduce the adverse impacts of hazards on the supply chain.  A serious disruption to the transportation infrastructure can have a catastrophic impact on the ability of communities, businesses, and the economy to recover from a disaster.  A robust and resilient transportation infrastructure is an essential element for a resilient global supply chain.  This workshop, with significant U.S. cost-sharing and endorsed by ABAC, will create a framework to define the important properties of a resilient transportation system and will enhance understanding of the processes that help to strengthen supply chain resilience.

Phase I: Host a joint workshop with the TPTWG, EPWG, ABAC (IDWG), and ITF

Phase II: Develop a report on the results of the workshop

Phase III: Develop an agenda for future collaboration

Relevance

Transportation is a critical part of today’s global economy, and a robust and resilient transportation infrastructure is an essential element for a resilient global supply chain.  Hence, any serious disruption to the transportation infrastructure can have a catastrophic impact on the ability of communities, businesses and the economy to recover. APEC’s 21 member economies accounts for approximately 55 percent of world GDP, and 49 percent of world trade – yet they experience over 70 percent of the world's natural disasters.  The transportation systems in APEC economies have varying degrees of multimodal connectivity and are dependent on the inputs or services of a number of different sectors, including the telecommunications and electric power sectors.  Given the prevalence of natural disasters in this region of the world, it is important for APEC economies to understand the resilience of the supply chain and its economic impact.  The purpose of this workshop is to share practical information about the steps needed to help improve the emergency preparedness and the resilience of the supply chain in APEC economies. 

Objectives

The key objectives of this joint Transportation Working Group (TPTWG) and the Emergency Preparedness Working Group (EPWG) workshop are:

(1) To create a framework to define the important properties of a resilient supply chain, with consideration given to: a) Robustness - the ability to withstand an event; b) Redundancy - multiple components serve the same function; c) Resourcefulness - the ability to diagnose problems and to initiate solutions; and d) Rapidity of restoration - the ability to restore systems operations in a timely way;

(2) To enhance understanding of the processes that help to strengthen supply chain resilience using case studies of resilience-related improvements;

(3) To share experiences and insights learned by discussion at the workshop and subsequently in developing an outcomes report to be circulated to a broader audience; and

(4) To develop a list of action items that can be used for future collaboration.

Alignment

This workshop will specifically help to address APEC’s priorities of establishing reliable supply chains and strengthening their resilience to disasters, which have been highlighted in several different fora by APEC’s Leaders and Ministers.

The APEC Supply-Chain Connectivity Framework, presented at the 21st APEC Ministerial Meeting in November 2009, identifies eight chokepoints in the existing supply-chain networks and develops work streams that would address these chokepoints.  This workshop will complement the work streams identified in the Framework to address Chokepoint 2 (Inefficient or inadequate transport infrastructure; Lack of cross border physical linkages) and Chokepoint 6 (Underdeveloped multimodal transport capabilities; inefficient air, land, and multimodal connectivity). 

The APEC Business Advisory Council issued its 2011 Annual Report to APEC Economic Leaders (Honolulu, Hawaii), which included a summary of actions that would help stimulate economic growth.  One of these actions is to strengthen the global supply chain, the importance of which was underscored by the supply chain disruptions that occurred in the wake of Japan’s earthquake and tsunami.  The Report indicated that there is a clear need to keep supply chains open in times of large-scale disasters, and urged APEC economies to step up the level of emergency preparedness to keep supply chains open.  In 2012, ABAC established an Infrastructure Development Working Group, which will focus on strengthening supply chains and improving disaster preparedness, among other things.

The APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade issued a Statement (June 4-5, 2012,Kazan, Russia) indicating their commitment toward achieving tangible results in four priority areas, one of which is establishing reliable supply chains.  They emphasized the importance of work on improved reliability of supply chains, effective risk management, and diversification, among other things.  They also reaffirmed the importance of enhancing the emergency preparedness and disaster resiliency of APEC economies, communities and businesses.

The APEC High Level Policy Dialogue on Disaster Resilience, (November 11, 2011, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA) chaired by U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, called on APEC economies to adopt and implement several objectives to address disaster resilience.  One of the objectives is to facilitate the movement of goods and services during disasters by recognizing the importance of the supply chain and related infrastructure in the delivery of goods and services following a disaster.

The Special APEC Transportation Ministerial Meeting (August 3, 2012, St. Petersburg, Russia) in a Ministerial Joint Statement, indicated that the purpose of this meeting was to discuss steps to ensure the sustainability and efficiency of supply chain systems in the Asia-Pacific region. The Ministers instructed the Transportation Working Group to hold consultations with industry and other stakeholders on the issue of the technological modernization of supply chains, primarily of their weakest links, thus strengthening coordination among supply chain stakeholders in order to use existing infrastructure safer and more effectively.  In their previous meeting in September 2011 in California, USA, they indicated that transportation has been the key to the preparedness, resilience and response to the tragic natural disasters that the Asia-Pacific Region has recently experienced.  They also indicated that APEC is committed to formulating a common understanding of requirements for the development of optimal transportation systems in order to better respond to future natural disasters in the region. 

At the last meeting of the EPWG in Kazan, Russia, held on May 31, 2012, one of the activities established as a priority in 2012 by the Working Group is to collaborate further with other APEC fora on cross-cutting areas on issues related to disaster preparedness.  Areas of collaboration include enhancing the understanding of the logistics/supply chain recovery following a large-scale disaster, among others.

TILF/ASF Justification
Not Applicable
Beneficiaries and Outputs

The output of this project is a 3-day workshop where the participants will be engaged in a focused discussion on ways to enhance the supply chains, particularly in the event of a large-scale disaster, in order to support both the public and private sectors in finding, developing and using the most efficient supply chains to make transportation faster and more secure. 

The target audience will be all twenty-one APEC member economies (Private and public sectors), non-governmental organizations, and particularly those from various sectors of the economy that have interdependencies with the transportation sector.  This workshop will also enable APEC’s Emergency Preparedness Working Group (EPWG) and Transportation Working Group (TPTWG) to engage the stakeholders in a focused discussion on ways to address emergency preparedness and resilience of the supply chain by sharing experiences, enhancing understanding, and developing potential strategies for improvements. In addition, the International Transportation Forum (ITF) has endorsed the project and will be a key partner in this effort. 

Specifically, the beneficiaries of this project are:

-  The Governments of APEC economies, particularly the developing economies.  They will gain a better understanding of the logistics/supply chain recovery following a large-scale disaster in the region. -  APEC fora, including TPTWG, EPWG, and ABAC.  The workshop will facilitate APEC fora to collaborate on a variety of areas on issues related to disaster preparedness and enhancing the supply chain.

-  The Private sector.  Transportation companies, among others, will be better informed based on the information sharing, and will be able to make use of the best practices and techniques in developing robust and resilient infrastructure and intermodal connectivity. The Workshop speakers will be from various APEC economies, from the private sector including ABAC, and other non-Governmental international organizations.

Dissemination

All APEC-member economies will be invited to the workshop and given access to all materials.  These materials will also be available to private sector companies and non-governmental organizations. In addition, the primary benefit of the workshop will be to encourage each APEC economy to develop its own initiatives and programs, and integrate these efforts into the larger APEC dialogue and efforts on the issue of global supply chain resilience. One of the outcomes of the workshop will be an Action Agenda for future work. The report on the workshop will be disseminated, free of charge, to APEC member economies.

Gender

Two of the Project Overseers are women and they will work deliberately to include women as speakers and participants.  Women involved in the transportation and emergency preparedness fields will be consulted and encouraged to take an active part at every stage of the project implementation: planning, information gathering and preparation, participation in the Workshop and dissemination of the results.

Work Plan

The Work plan is presented in the Table below with the related outputs for each step listed.

Activities

Output

Risks and their management

November 2012 – January 2013

The Project Overseers will work to finalize the format for the Workshop and will ensure that the format facilitates full participation from all the stakeholders.

Workshop format in the form of a draft Agenda items.

Outline and draft Compendium on Global Supply Chain Resilience.

Risk: Coming to an agreement on the format that would work best for this Workshop topic and for the participants.  Every effort will be made to use a format that facilitates open dialogue and discussion of the various topics.

January 2013 – March 2013

The Project Overseers, in cooperation with TPTWG members will identify experts from APEC economies, APEC fora, private sector companies and organizations, and international organizations who will be the presenters at the Workshop.  Issue invitations to speakers.

Draft topics, list of speakers, and list of invited/confirmed participants

Detailed Agenda for the 3-day Workshop.

Detailed information regarding Workshop venue, list of hotel  available, equipment needs, etc.

Risk: Poor participation from APEC economies in providing experts to be presenters.  The Project Overseers will contact Heads of Delegation from TPTWG and EPWG to enlist their support in getting speakers. Special effort will be made to invite women as speakers and as participants.

April 2013 - June 2013

Final preparations for the Workshop.

Conduct Workshop

Participants will be invited to fully participate in discussions of the workshop topics

Publish Final Agenda with list of speakers and biography for each speaker.

3-day Workshop with a full agenda and workshop materials

Risk: Quality of presentations is poor and participants are not fully engaged.  Project Overseers will require speakers to provide a copy of their presentations in advance and will recommend changes as needed to fully engage audience.

July 2013 - August 2013

The Project Overseers will disseminate the Workshop proceedings and draft Workshop conclusions.  They will also develop Action Items for future collaboration

Workshop conclusions; List of items with Lessons learned; and Action Items for future collaboration

Risk: Poor quality of Workshop conclusions.  Project Overseers will collaborate the review of the workshop conclusions with TPTWG and EPWG members.

September 2013

Develop final Report of the Workshop and list of Action Items

Publish results of the Workshop in a Report that gets APEC-wide distribution

Risk: Poor report.  Ensure that draft Report is circulated to get feedback.

December 2013

 

Submit Project Completion Report to APEC Secretariat

Completion Report

Risk of this activity is low

Risks
The risks involved in implementing the project and how these risks will be managed are listed in Work Plan.
Monitoring and Evaluation

The main indicators of successful project implementation are:

-  Number of participants who attend the workshop. We anticipate that over 25 participant will attend. -  The variety of the topics on global supply chain resilience presented by speakers from various APEC economies and from the private sector. -  The list of Action Items for future collaboration will provide an indication as to the level of interest of the subject matter presented. 

The project overseers will design and distribute an evaluation questionnaire at the end of the workshop on Day 3, taking care to build time into the agenda before the conclusion of the workshop so that speakers and participants can complete it.  Participants will be able to provide qualitative feedback on the three-day workshop program through the questionnaire, including suggestions for areas of follow up.

Linkages

We have reached out to the TPTWG, ABA, and the EPWG to assist in planning, conducting and participating in this Workshop on global supply chain resilience.

The Transportation Working Group is responsible for addressing the work streams identified in the Supply Chain Connectivity Framework to address Chokepoint 2 (Inefficient or inadequate transport infrastructure; Lack of cross border physical linkages) and Chokepoint 6 (Underdeveloped multimodal transport capabilities; inefficient air, land, and multimodal connectivity).

APEC Business Advisory Council indicated that strengthening the global supply chain will help stimulate economic growth in the APEC region.  As a result, ABAC has established the Infrastructure Development Working Group, which will focus on strengthening supply chains and improving disaster preparedness.

The Emergency Preparedness Working Group has established collaboration with other APEC fora on cross-cutting areas on issues related to disaster preparedness as a priority.  The Working Group stated that areas of collaboration include enhancing the understanding of the logistics/supply chain recovery following a large-scale disaster, among others.

This Workshop will build upon but not duplicate the Public-Private Partnerships and Disaster Resilience Workshop held in Thailand in 2010, and the EPWG Workshop on Private Sector Emergency Preparedness held in Sendai, Japan in 2011.

APEC is the most appropriate form to implement this project because the proposal responds to APEC’s priorities of establishing reliable supply chains and strengthening their resilience to disasters, which have been highlighted in several different for a by APEC’s Leaders and Ministers.

Sustainability

The following steps will be taken to ensure sustainability of the project:

-  The results of the Workshop will be widely disseminated with open access so that the beneficiaries and the stakeholders could freely use all the materials in their work; -  The outputs of the project will be made available for future projects in APC and non-APEC fora. -  The report will include Action Items for future collaboration within APEC and non-APEC fora. 

This Workshop is expected to be the first of several workshops, seminars or meetings to address the resilience of the global supply chain.  Since there are many facets to the issue of global supply chain resilience, we do not expect to cover all of the areas in one Workshop.  As a result, we plan to carefully review the Action Items list we hope to develop, and in collaboration with the stakeholders, determine what would be the best next step to build on the results of this Workshop.  We anticipate the need to address several major issues, including conceptualizing and measuring resilience; intermodal and multimodal connectivity; understanding transportation infrastructure interdependencies with other infrastructure systems such as electric power or communications, and identifying the gaps in determining how to develop a resilient supply chain.

Project Overseers

Ms. Janet Benini has been an emergency response manager at the State and Federal level during floods, fires, earthquakes, hurricanes, terrorist attacks and a riot for over 30 years. She is currently a Deputy Director at the U.S. Department of Transportation, and was Director of Response and Planning at the White House Homeland Security Council from 2003-2005, where she led the development of the National Response Plan. She received a special Commendation medal for her activities during the attacks of 9/11/01, and was awarded the highest honor at the Department of Transportation, a gold medal, for her actions during the response to Hurricane Katrina.

Ms. Victoria Waite is a Principal Associate in the Trade and Investment Group at Nathan Associates.  Her current assignment, she is the Chief of Party of the U.S. funded APEC Technical Assistance and Training Facility, which is designed to support APEC and the APEC Secretariat in furthering regional economic integration, support the Bogor Goals of free and open trade, and help APEC become a more strategically managed regional institution.  Ms. Waite has successfully managed and/or implemented several technical assignments, including a number of workshops for APEC fora.

Cost Efficiency

Project overseers will look at the 2013 APEC meeting schedule to determine if implementation of the workshop can take place around another set of APEC meetings, e.g., EPWG or TPTWG.  This would enable attendance by regular delegates who would be in Indonesia attending other meetings, and allow organizers to take advantage of synergies related to the venue and possible speakers. By implementing a 3-day workshop (rather than two shorter workshops), we can organize a full agenda to address the many different important issues by maximizing travel cost and participant time (an additional day of LOE, rather than a second trip, which would incur airfare, accommodation, etc). The length of the program will also contribute to ability to develop a list of action items with full participation of attendees.

Drawdown Timetable
Not Applicable
Direct Labour
Not Applicable
Waivers
Not Applicable
Are there any supporting document attached?No