ABSTRACT
It is often said that the Chinese word for risk, wei ji, combines the characters meaning ‘danger’ and ‘opportunity’. Another interpretation is ‘precarious moment’. What is important is that both translations show that risk is not a purely negative concept and that uncertainty usually involves some balance between profit and loss. Indeed, the global financial and insurance markets, upon which the global economy depends and which are a source of enormous fortunes for some, are essentially riskdriven. The reality is that there is some risk associated with every aspect of life. Such risk cannot be eliminated but it can be assessed and managed in order to reduce the impacts of disaster.
