Natural disaster management in the spotlight
A conference to promote sharing regional and international experience in natural disaster management took place in Hanoi on November 17.
Addressing the event, head of the National Assembly (NA) Committee for Science, Technology and Environment, Phan Xuan Dung, said Vietnam is facing many calamities such as floods, storms, drought, landslides, earthquakes, desertification and rising sea level.
He said the results of the conference will help NA deputies consider the draft law on natural disaster prevention, response and mitigation which is expected to be approved at a NA session in May, 2013.
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Cao Duc Phat, stressed the importance of exchanging experiences with other countries in the field.
UNDP Country Director for Vietnam, Louis Chamberlain, highlighted the importance of the event for Vietnam, which has to cope with new kinds of unexpected natural disasters.
She praised the efforts of the Vietnamese Government to reduce and ease the risk of natural disasters over the past years.
She also gave some suggestions to the draft law to prevent and reduce the risk of natural disasters.
During the conference, participants discussed regional and international cooperation in the field, as well as models to prevent and reduce the threat of natural disasters in such countries as Japan, Thailand, China, the Philippines, Indonesia and the US.