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ASEAN countries vow to strengthen cooperation in disaster response

Xinhua, December 15, 2016 Adjust font size:

Military officers from members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its dialogue partners gathered in Lao capital Vientiane on Thursday to discuss measures for more effective cooperation in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR).

During the ninth ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting ADMM-Plus Experts' Working Group on Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief, participants agreed that ASEAN is a region at risk of various types of disasters and different levels of severity, reported local state-run Vientiane Times.

It was the last meeting for the second phase of cooperation under the Laos-Japan co-chairmanship from 2014 to 2016.

In his welcoming remarks, Lao Deputy Minister of Defense Onesy Senesouk said even though this is the last meeting for this phase of cooperation, it does not mean the end of humanitarian assistance and disaster response.

"We have to continue the development of our existing cooperation mechanisms and enhance our capacity for more effective and efficient response to emergencies and minimize the loss of lives and properties," he said.

At the meeting, participants discussed the achievements of cooperation made by the experts' working group (EWG) in the past three years, learned about the results of the joint training exercise of the EWGs on HADR and military medicines.

They also considered the basic principles of the multinational coordination center and passed the declaration by affected countries.

ASEAN established the ADMM in 2006. The ADMM-Plus is a platform for ASEAN and its eight dialogue partners, namely Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Russia and the United States to strengthen security and defense cooperation for peace, stability, and development in the region. Endit