Quang Ninh (VNA)- The 11th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Disaster Management (AMMDM) kicked offin Ha Long city in the northern province of Quang Ninh on October 12.

The event gathered eight ministers, four deputy ministers, and over 140 otherdelegates who are leaders and officials of disaster prevention and controlagencies of 10 ASEAN member countries, the ASEAN Secretariat, the ASEANCoordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHACentre), development partners of the group (China, the Republic of Korea, andJapan), and some international organisations in the region. Timor-Leste attendedthe meeting as an observer.  

In his opening remarks, Vietnamese Minister of Agricultureand Rural Development Le Minh Hoan stressed that despite being a dynamic anddeveloping region in the world, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) still has to confront various challenges dueto climate change and natural disasters.

Over the years, catastrophic events like tsunamis, super typhoons, floods, and severeearthquakes have claimed the lives of many people in the ASEAN countries, erasinghard-fought achievements and slowing down the development of numerous areas.

He underlined joint efforts made by the ASEAN member countries in establishing and implementingcooperative mechanisms with visionary directions progressively strengthened anddeveloped, in order to address the above-mentioned challenges.

Accordingly, intra-bloc information sharing has been enhanced, whileall-level connectivity channels have been set up.

The ASEAN member nations have worked closely on cooperative programmesrelated to training and popularising advanced approaches. They also havecommitted to signing agreements to better respond to disasters througheffective and close supportive mechanisms, such as the AHA Centre, the comprehensive programme for implementing the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response(AADMER), cooperation mechanisms with key partnerswith the goal of "One ASEAN, One Response," and the AADMER Fund.

With a foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, friendship,cooperation, and development, multilateralisation and diversification of foreignrelations; and being a good friend, a trust partner, and a responsiblemember of the internationalcommunity, Vietnam has been and willcontinue to fully commit to making every effort to actively join other ASEANcountries in building and effectively implementing joint cooperation mechanismson disaster management, Hoan stressed.

The minister expressed his belief that with a spirit ofunity, strengthened strategic trust, and cooperation based on equality, mutualrespect and benefit, the ASEAN member countries can collectively enhance theirstrength, overcome challenges related to climate change and natural disasters,and safeguard the hard-fought achievements over the years, towards promoting prosperousdevelopment and safety within ASEAN.

At the meeting, participants adopted a Ha Long declaration on increasing early actions in disaster management in ASEAN, affirming the ministers’ commitment to strengthening the implementation of early actions in regional disaster management, especially focusing on the three main pillars of risk information, forecasting, and early warning systems; planning, operation, and execution; and promoting allocated financial resources.

The meeting also focused discussions on the direction of activities for the AHA Centre’s Governing Board in the near future, the financial regulations of the AADMER Fund, and the recognition of the ASEAN Leaders' Declaration on Sustainable Resilience, which was adopted at the 43rd ASEAN Summit in Indonesia in early September./.