ASEAN gains progress in disaster management

Forest fire in South Sumatra, Indonesia (Source: Reuters)

Singapore (VNA)- ASEAN member nations have made decent progress in their disaster management efforts, said Singapore’s Minister of Interior and Law K. Shammugam.

The Singaporean minister made the remark at a policy dialogue held by the ASEAN member countries in Singapore on November 2, which aims to discuss ways to enhance and tighten intra-bloc cooperation in accordance with the five-year ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response.

K. Shammugam stressed that the achieved results enable the group’s member countries to promote frequent cooperation and advance humanitarian assistance and disaster response to a new level.

It requires sustainable joint efforts from all the ASEAN nations as requirements humanitarian assistance are increasing, he noted.

Since the agreement has been implemented, ASEAN took initiatives to boost links among its members to deal with and relieve losses caused by disasters in the region.

The establishment of the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management in 2011 played an important role in coordinating regional disaster responses.-VNA

VNA