Welcome Messages

Professor Haresh SHAH

Founding Chairman, Advisory Board, ICRM;
Member of the Board of Trustees, NTU;
Emeritus Professor, Stanford University;
Chairman, Asia Risk Centre Inc., Singapore
Founder & Senior Advisor, RMS Inc., USA

We are delighted to welcome you to our Fourth International Symposium on Catastrophe Risk Management. Particular welcome goes to our Guest-of-Honor Mr Peter Ho, Senior Advisor, Centre for Strategic Futures, Singapore. ICRM has made impressive progress in developing its research agenda, support for research from the government, industry and NTU, and in establishing collaborative programmes with academic and industrial institutions.

This year, our Symposium theme is on Evolving Risks due to Extreme Events in Asia-Pacific, a theme that is very relevant to this part of the world. Recent losses incurred by governments and insurance/reinsurance organizations due to extreme events in Asia-Pacific have placed this topic as an important discussion topic for ICRM. We are certain that with your participation, the Symposium would help everyone gain a better understanding of the pressing issues and to develop mitigation strategies through the concerted efforts of the government, private and public sectors, and the society at large. Lastly to our foreign guests, I also wish you a most wonderful and pleasant time in Singapore.



Professor Tso-Chien PAN

Executive Director
ICRM, NTU, Singapore

On behalf of NTU’s Institute of Catastrophe Risk Management (ICRM), I am most happy to extend our warmest greetings to our Guest-of-Honor Mr Peter Ho, Senior Advisor, Centre for Strategic Futures, Singapore; Professor Bertil Andersson, President, NTU; Professor Su Guaning, President Emeritus, NTU; and Speakers and Delegates to the Fourth ICRM Symposium.

Established in 2010, ICRM has been undertaking multidisciplinary research works to understand and manage catastrophe risk arising from natural and non-natural hazards. A part of this is the annual symposium that we are organizing. This 4th Symposium has its theme on the Evolving Risks due to Extreme Events in Asia-Pacific. We believe that this is particular relevant due to the rapid economic growth of the Asia-Pacific region thus creating regions of high vulnerability with population, infrastructure and societies exposed to extreme events. In addition, such risks are likely compounded by climatic change effects. We hope, via the Symposium to have a rigorous discussion on how to understand and perhaps cope with such evolving risks, propose effective mitigation strategies and thus help communities understand and deal with such risks.

We at ICRM are thankful for the support that we have received from the government, our university, and the private sector. We are also thankful for your presentations and discussions over these days. I am sure your participation will make our Symposium rewarding and guide our coming works. Have a good time and to our foreign guests, a most wonderful time in Singapore as well.