Natural disasters cost 1.48 pct of Vietnam’s annum GDP

Natural disasters economically cost 1.48 percent of Vietnam’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) annually during 2008-2012, an official has said.
Natural disasters economically cost 1.48 percent of Vietnam’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) annually during 2008-2012, an official has said.

Nguyen Xuan Dieu, Permanent Member of the Central Committee for Flood and Storm Prevention and Control, reported that during the time, natural disasters triggered an economic damage of nearly 74 trillion VND (roughly 3.5 billion USD), 19.3 trillion VND more than the previous five years.

In the reviewed period, the number of casualties has, however, dropped sharply compared with that of the previous five years, Dieu said, citing that the toll of dead and missing was 1,868, a decrease of 162, while the injured numbered 2,972, a drop of 607.

Among the hard hit localities, Mekong Delta provinces saw a significant drop in deaths, thanks to the employment of a series of preventive measures, including the relocation of local residents in submerged areas in safer shelters.

The heavy property loss was partly attributed to the planners’ failure to incorporate natural disaster prevention in socio-economic development plans.

To mitigate disaster consequences, provinces and cities nationwide should prioritise prevention programmes, especially that to move people living in disaster-prone areas to safer locations.

With a coastline that stretches along the eastern side of the country, Vietnam is prone to various types of natural disasters, especially floods and storms.-VNA

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