Indonesian government and World Bank visit SED

As part of a study tour to Switzerland, a delegation from the Indonesian government visited the Swiss Seismological Service (SED) at ETH Zurich, among other destinations. The tour, supported by the World Bank, was designed to promote knowledge exchange on disaster risk management and financial resilience. Indonesia wants to use the newly acquired knowledge and experience from Switzerland to better protect itself against future disasters.

Indonesia, with its more than 6,000 islands, is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire. As a result, the country is exposed to many natural hazards, including earthquakes, tsunamis, landslides, floods and volcanic eruptions. According to the World Bank, such disasters claimed over 7,000 lives and displaced 55 million people between 2007 and 2018. This was accompanied by annual economic losses of USD 2.2 to 3 billion, equivalent to around 0.2 to 0.3% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2018. The aim is to strengthen Indonesia's financial, physical and social resilience in order to better protect the island nation's 265 million inhabitants from potential risks.