NGHỆ AN — APEC will soon release a recommendation to the leaders of member economies to apply more advanced technology in disaster prevention given the extreme weather the region has been facing.

Senior officials in disaster management of Pacific Rim economies gathered on Thursday morning to kick off the eleventh Senior Disaster Management Officials’ Forum (SDMOF) of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation in Vinh City, Nghệ An Province – the very place wrecked by the once-in-three-decades strong typhoon Doksuri a few days ago.

“The Asia-Pacific region is one of the most dynamic economy regions in the world, but also an area most vulnerable to natural disaster risks,” Việt Nam’s Agricuture and Rural Development Deputy Minister Hoàng Văn Thắng told 200 delegates at the forum.

In 2017 alone, a series of strong typhoons and storms swept over Asian countries and part of the United States.

Việt Nam was no exception. Floods and landslides two months ago wreaked havoc in the country’s northern region, while the central part was battered by typhoon Doksuri last week, killing nine people and causing more than VNĐ11 trillion of losses (US$488.8 million).

The world has recently come up with a new term - “new normal” - to describe the increasingly complicated and unpredictable natural disasters in terms of their frequency, intensity and impact levels.

"New normal" natural disasters refer to not only extremely strong storms, but also to other disasters such as landslides, coastal land erosion and tsunamis.

In the face of the new condition, advanced technology is playing a vital role in reducing the severe impacts of the disasters.

“We hope to bring out a joint recommendation to leaders calling for more advanced technology for disaster prevention and post-disaster recovery works,” Thắng said.

The eleventh SDMOF will last for two days, focusing on measures to strengthen co-operation between APEC member economies in disaster prevention and implementation of technologies to handle the new situation. — VNS