On Thursday, June 10, 2021, during 1.00- 3.30 pm, the SATREPS Area-BCM (DREAM) Project organized the 4th Joint Coordinating Committee meeting via Zoom application, providing a platform for experts and collaborating government agencies to learn about and update the progress of the project activities as well as give suggestions for the project improvement. The event virtually gathered over 80 participants from 25 prominent organizations and research institutions of Thailand and Japan.

Firstly, the Vice President of Chulalongkorn University, Professor Dr Chakkaphan Sutthirat, and the Chief Representative of JICA Thailand, Mr Morita Takahiro, officiated the meeting remarks on the importance of preparedness for natural hazards and counterstrategy for business continuity management. The project was agreed on its versatility as the developed management is widely applicable to cope with business disruptions caused by various risk events ranging from climate change to the so-called COVID-19 outbreak.

Secondly, Asst. Prof. Dr Supattra Visessri, the moderator from the Department of Water Resources Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, introduced the overview, the operational structure, and the operational structure of the SATREPS Area-BCM (DREAM) Project. Hence, the Thai and Japanese research members and participants were introduced by Asst. Prof. Dr Supattra Visessri and Dr Yuko Iwasaki (Nagoya Institute of Technology), respectively.

Thirdly, Professor Kenji Watanabe, Principal Investigator of the project, presented the overview and brief updates of the project status under the Covid-19 situations that external professionals were hired to execute field research remotely. While some in-person-based activities began behind schedule, specific tasks of FY2021-2020 were completed ahead of schedule. It was pointed out that the current pandemic was not an excuse for what hindered; however, there was room for suggestions to improve the project operation process.

This was followed by each item’s progress report and the next steps in the following year:

1) Item 1 (Hazard Analysis) Development of Flood inundation model for the Industrial Parks presented by
Asst. Prof. Dr Anurak Sriariyawat (Department of Water Resources Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University) and Dr Mamoru Miyamoto (ICHARM),

2) Item 0 (Community Survey) Community Research presented by Asst. Prof. Dr Ruttiya Bhula-or (Deputy Dean of College of Population Studies, Chulalongkorn University), Dr Sutpratana Duangkaew (Mahidol University), and Dr Kawasaki Akiyuki (University of Tokyo),

3) Item 2 (Business Impact Analysis) Business Impact Analysis presented by Asst. Prof. Dr Tartat Mokkhamakkul (Faculty of Commerce and Accountancy, Chulalongkorn University) and Dr Misumi Ryohei (NIED), and

4) Item 3 (Area-BCM) Area-BCM Establishment and Dissemination presented by Asst. Prof. Dr Natt Leelawat (Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering; and the RDM Program, Chulalongkorn University) and Project Asst. Prof. Dr Kodaka Akira (Keio University).

Most of the progress aligns with the planned implementation and strategic framework of the project. Simulation, data collection, in-depth interview of focused companies, and knowledge dissemination have been conducted and constantly integrated to develop the future Area-BCM toolkits. Regarding the Q&A session, Prof. Watanabe responded that the project should have a clear picture of the aforementioned toolkits early next year as it reaches the latter half of the project period.

In the end, Asst. Prof. Dr Ruttiya Bhula-or presented closing remarks, reflecting upon the project’s objectives in building resilience and sustainable development and extending appreciation to all parties involved.
The meeting was successful using the online meeting platform to overcome the limitation during the pandemic situation. The JCC members are looking forward to the involvement of all participated organizations.

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Recording: https://youtu.be/Gq5UBpp4KAQ

Written by Ms. Pieng-in Punyaprasiddhi and Mr. Krisanapong Yodprechavigit
Checked by Asst. Prof. Dr. Ruttiya Bhula-or and Mr. Yoshiaki Miura