Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat has praised
the Japanese Government’s immense assistance to Vietnam in an array of
activities to respond to climate change and strengthen its preventative
capacity against natural disasters.
At a conference discussing
further cooperation between Vietnam and Japan in combating natural
disasters in Hanoi on September 13, Minister Phat pointed to the fact
that Vietnam is one of the countries hardest hit by climate change,
especially rising sea levels.
Climate change has created weather
extremes, resulting in greater economic losses that account for 1.5
percent of the country’s GDP, the Minister said.
Present at the
conference, visiting Japanese Minister of Land, Infrastructure,
Transport and Tourism Ohta Akihiro said his ministry will sign a
memorandum of understanding on cooperation in natural disaster
management from now to 2016 with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development.
Under the agreement, the two ministries will work
together in developing a framework for cooperation dialogue on
catastrophe management so as to set up closer connections in the field
for the two countries.
At the event, Japanese delegates shared
their experiences in building natural disaster resilient works, and
lessons learnt from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
They also
proposed solutions and plans to manage natural disaster risks stemming
from floods and collect related data in Vietnam.-VNA