Scene at the 11th APEC Senior Disaster Management Officials Forum (Photo: VNA)




Nghe An
(VNA) – Natural disaster management activities should be implemented in parallel
with ensuring sustainable growth, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)
will not be completed without the successful prevention of calamities, APEC
senior officials have noted.



As part of discussions
within the 11th APEC Senior Disaster Management Officials Forum
(SDMOF 11)that is being held in
the central province of Nghe An, APEC officials emphasised that economic growth
must not bring about new risks. They concurred that new tools and training
courses should be designed for the community to recognise and prevent the
risks.



At the same time, it is
necessary to prioritise resources for mitigating disasters, while strengthening
public preparedness for natural disasters and encouraging the engagement of
busineses and the partnership between the private and public sectors in the
field. The collaboration among technology and science research institutes,
investors and the community is also important, they said.



Representatives from
the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), the Philippines, Japan and Vietnam highlighted the need for
developing supporting tools as well as advanced science and technology in
disaster management, especially in forecasting and early warning.



According to the UNISDR
representative, problems related to water account for 90 percent of total
disaster losses, therefore, it is crucial to seek new methods to minimise
water-related disasters.



Officials from the APEC
member economies also shared expertise in developing high technology
infrastructure system as well as the application of advanced technology and
science in dealing with new normal disasters.



They proposed reforming
information supply and alert methods, while stressing the important role of
management agencies in directing disaster response and recovery.



At the two-day forum,
APEC officials are scheduled to issue a Joint
Recommendation on Renovating Science and Technology Cooperation to deal with
new normal disasters, with focus on addressing landslides in coastal areas,
supper storms and tsunami, which will be submitted to APEC leaders later this
year.



Established in 1989, APEC
comprises 21 economies, including Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong
Kong (China), Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New
Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Chinese
Taipei, Thailand, the US, and Vietnam.



The APEC member economies
account for 39 percent of the world population, 57 percent of the world GDP and
47 percent of the global trade.-VNA