US and 4 Lower Mekong countries discuss disaster management

(VOV) - Delegates from the US and four Lower Mekong countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand gathered at a three-day seminar on disaster management in Ho Chi Minh City on September 12.

The seminar, organised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Defence and the US Pacific Command, aims to improve management capacity and mitigate disaster risks for four Mekong sub-region countries through promoting cooperation via dialogue and information exchange.

Participants will share knowledge and experience in controlling floods and coping with disasters, shortages of water and food, local people’s health problems and the spread of epidemics.

They will also identify challenges and discuss cooperative measures to deal with them.

The seminar is part of the initiative launched in 2009 by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the foreign ministers of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam to strengthen regional cooperation in the fields of education, environment, health care and infrastructure.