ADB helps Vietnam cope with national disasters

The aid package aims to assist the two Southeast Asian nations to pair infrastructure upgrades with community-based disaster risk management and enhanced regional forecasting to improve flood and drought preparedness in the Greater Mekong Sub-Region (GMS).

“Floods and droughts in the Lower Mekong Basin can have a major impact on farming, food supply, and infrastructure, but reducing the risk isn’t just about building hardware, it’s also about equipping communities with the skills to plan, predict, and prepare for climate change,” said Su Chin Teoh, Natural Resources Specialist in the Southeast Asia Department at ADB.

In addition to upgrading or developing canals, drainage pumps and embankments in Laos’ Vientiane capital and Vietnam’s Dong Thap and Tien Giang provinces in the Mekong Delta, the assistance will also be used nation-wide in both countries to collect data, information, and knowledge to prepare flood and drought forecasts.

ADB will assist southern provinces - namely Tien Giang and Dong Thap - in data collection efforts that will be used to make forecasts about flood and storm activity in the Mekong Delta and other areas nationwide.

Thanks to ABD’s funding, an early warning centre will also be established in Laos to furnish the whole region with additional information about potential natural disasters.

It is reported that floods in the Mekong Delta cause property losses worth more than US$70 billion annually.

In 2004-2005, droughts in the region caused an estimated loss of US$43 million and resulted in food shortages during the period.