Representatives of APEC’s emergency management agencies met in Hanoi on September 15 for their third annual forum.

During the three-day gathering, named the “2009 APEC Emergency Management CEO’s Forum,” the officials will review their recent activities and hold a general discussion as well as outlining additional steps to strengthen measures taken when dealing with natural disasters.

Addressing the forum, Vietnamese Agriculture and Rural Development Deputy Minister Bui Ba Bong said that Vietnam, which is among the top five countries to suffer the most from climate change, attaches a great deal of importance to emergency management.

“The Vietnamese government considers emergency management and prevention one of its biggest priorities and the government wishes to share its own information and experiences with other APEC members,” he said.

Antony Charles Pearce, the CEO’s Forum’s Steering Committee representative and Director General of Australia’s Emergency Management Department, said that progress had been made by APEC members over the past year.

However, he said that APEC members should speed up their efforts in the fight against natural disasters as climate changes are developing in a very complex manner.

He added that he hoped the third CEO’s forum would contribute more to the Asia-Pacific region’s emergency management capacity.

The holding of this annual forum provides an excellent chance for the heads of emergency management agencies to meet and share their experiences in emergency management.

The first forum was held in Australia in 2007 and the second one in Peru in 2008. The forum provides the participants with the opportunity to learn from others and become aware of new policies and procedures, which will also help to enhance regional cooperation./.