Over VND 15,000 billion damage was caused by natural disasters in Vietnam...
Over VND 15,000 billion damage was caused by natural disasters in Vietnam in 2012. ASEAN countries lose an average of USD4.4 billion in natural catastrophes every year. Many representatives of ASEAN countries participated and shared experience in search and rescue at sea in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Capacity Building Workshop on Search and Rescue at Sea held in Nha Trang City in the central coastal province of Khanh Hoa on July 18. The event aimed to increase ASEAN Regional Search and Rescue Capacity at Sea.
Nguyen Thanh Phuong representing the Disaster Management Center (Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development) says damages caused by natural disasters were estimated at VND74,000 billion between 2008 and 2012.
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| A foreign crew rescued in Khanh Hoa. |
According to Deputy Minister of Agriculture & Rural Development Hoang Van Thang, Vietnam has suffered from disaster-related human and property losses and damages which have had impacts on the local socio-economic development.
Masatori Hisaki, Japanese Commander of the Search and Rescue Department says, cooperation among APEC members in search and rescue is required. More effort is needed to build natural disaster warning systems, raise public awareness, improve disaster control constructions, etc.
The Vietnamese Government has placed a high priority on search and rescue tasks as well as international and regional cooperation in this field, he says.
Pannapa Na Nan, Thai Disaster Management Center says the country is building a natural disaster warning system, improving infrastructures to support and evacuate residents stranded by rising floodwaters and so on.
A representative from the Philippines identified the need for the improvement of equipment and means of transportation for evacuation and rescue.
A representative from South Korea focused on the role of delivering early warning of pending natural disasters in a timely, accurate and understandable manner.
Nguyen Thanh Phuong says in the time to come, Vietnam should promote the education, strengthen search and rescue forces and disaster emergency simulation exercises, etc.
At the workshop, all the representatives introduced the procedures and application of advanced technology and new equipment in search and rescue. On this occasion, Vietnam put forward the 2013 ASEAN Regional Disaster Emergency Simulation Exercise (ARDEX) expected to take place this October.
N.T
