Terrorism risks create new vulnerabilities for businesses in Asia
- The frequency of jihadist attacks across Southeast Asia rose by 30 percent in 2018.
- The recent attacks across Sri Lanka underscore the point that you can easily become a victim of business interruption if your economy depends on tourism. Organisations must protect themselves against risks related to loss of attraction.
- Frequency of far-right terrorist attacks and plots in Europe and North America have increased. This trend has remained evident in 2019, with the attacks on two mosques in New Zealand.
SINGAPORE (24 April 2019) – Businesses in Asia faces an increasingly complex security environment, as Islamist and far-right terrorism create new vulnerabilities for communities, according to new research from Aon, the leading global professional services firm providing a broad range of risk, retirement and health solutions.
Aon’s 2019 Risk Maps, which examine political risk, terrorism and political violence around the world, also found that the picture is complicated further by IS-linked groups who appear to be more intent on initiating terror attacks based on insurgency rather than holding territory.
Key findings include:
- The frequency of jihadist attacks across Southeast Asia rose by around 30 percent last year. The threat is highest in the southern Philippines, but also extends to Indonesia, and to a lesser degree, to Malaysia and Singapore.
- Returning Islamic State fighters will present significant challenges to communities. Security forces in Southeast Asia foiled at least 41 plots in the last two years.
- The frequency of jihadist attacks in the Philippines increased by more than 20 percent last year.
- In Indonesia, there were 27 jihadist attacks in 2018, almost six times as many as in 2017.
- Far-right terrorist attacks and plots in Europe and North America have almost doubled in frequency since 2016. This trend has remained evident in 2019, with the attacks on two mosques in New Zealand that killed 50 people.
These issues are creating new risks for business, from the security of their employees and property in the face of increasing terrorism risk, to impacts on their supply chains and investments. There is a range of risk management solutions that organisations can use to respond to these challenging conditions.
Julian Taylor, Head of Crisis Management, Asia, Aon said, “The recent attacks across Sri Lanka underscore the point that you can easily become a victim of business interruption if your economy depends on tourism. Organisations must protect themselves against risks related to loss of attraction and rapidly diminishing revenues following a terrorist attack.”
Notes to editors
Aon’s Risk Maps, developed in collaboration with Continuum Economics and The Risk Advisory Group, are designed to help firms better understand and navigate evolving exposures created by political risk, terrorism and political violence. In today’s complex geopolitical and economic environment, the maps enable clients to identify and track the different sources and degrees of risk, assisting businesses in planning and protecting assets, contracts and loans that could be adversely affected.
For more information and to access the interactive maps and full report please
click here.
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Aon plc (NYSE:AON) Aon is a leading global professional services firm providing a broad range of risk, retirement and health solutions. Our 50,000 colleagues in 120 countries empower results for clients by using proprietary data and analytics to deliver insights that reduce volatility and improve performance.
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