About 200 officials from 21 member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) have gathered in central Nghe An province to seek measures to strengthen affiliation in dealing with disaster risks.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Hoang Van Thang addresses the event (Photo: VNA)

The 11^th Senior Disaster Management Officials Forum (SDMOF11) which opened on September 21 focuses on enhancing cooperation and innovation of advanced technologies to effectively support the effective inter-regional emergency response to “New Normal” in the APEC economies, including landslide in coastal area, super storm and tsunami.

Opening the two-day forum, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development Hoang Van Thang said that Viet Nam is frequently suffered from natural disasters such as storm, flood and drought. Most recently, Typhoon Doksuri directly hit three central provinces, including Nghe An, causing heavy losses in both human lives and property, he noted.

Typhoon Doksuri, the 10th of its kind arising in the East Sea this year, killed nine people and damaged 193,000 houses, with total estimated losses of about 385 million USD.

Climate change that goes along with extreme weather conditions has also made natural disaster more dangerous with stronger storms, more serious flood and drought, he noted.

Mr Thang said that over the past years, Viet Nam has applied a number of measures to minimise natural disaster risks, including protecting and restoring the forest ecosystem and mangrove forests, boosting green growth and integrating natural disaster management into the operation of various sectors and improving the community’s capacity in disaster management.

He held that the forum is a great chance for Viet Nam to learn experience from APEC member economies, thus enhancing Viet Nam’s ability in the field.

The official expressed his hope that the forum will agree on recommendations to be submitted to APEC leaders, thus fostering collaboration in natural disaster prevention and response.

Established in 1989, APEC comprises 21 economies, including Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong (China), Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Chinese Taiwan, Thailand, the US, and Viet Nam.

(Source: VNA)