ASEAN Deputy Secretary General Sayakane Sisouvong has been visiting Vietnam from Oct. 4-6 to work on helping Vietnam to recover from typhoon Ketsana.

The official visit was part of joint efforts by ASEAN to help member countries which were hard hit by natural disasters, including Cambodia , Indonesia , Laos , the Philippines and Vietnam .

On Oct. 5, Sayakane Sisouvong held a working session with senior officials from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Agriculture and Rural Development and the Vietnam Fatherland Front to assess losses and ASEAN’s capability to help affected areas.

Vietnamese officials spoke highly of the ASEAN Deputy General Secretary’s visit, describing it as a manifestation of solidarity and mutual assistance among ASEAN members in the effort to build a unified ASEAN Community.

Sayakane Sisouvong said that he will make a report on the trip and call on the international community for donations. He also stressed the need to have exchanges of information and experience, as well as the transfer of technology, in the control of natural disasters and the coordination of assistance among ASEAN members.

He advised that the ASEAN Secretariat has set up a Cooperation Fund for Emergency Relief to solicit and receive donations from ASEAN members and its partners.

The ASEAN official added that the Jakarta-based ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA) has set up the ASEAN Emergency Rapid Assessment Team (ERAT) to assess losses in affected areas./.