BETTER COOPERATION OPPORTUNITIES WITH JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA IN DISASTER MANAGEMENT - DPM ZAHID

PUTRAJAYA, Oct 23 (Bernama) -- The bilateral meetings between the National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA) and the delegations from Japan and South Korea have opened opportunities for closer cooperation in disaster management.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said that, for now, most activities involving both countries are conducted on an ad-hoc basis and focused at the ASEAN level.

He said NADMA had also led the Malaysian delegation to Brunei to participate in the 45th ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management (ACDM) Meeting, the 21st Governing Board Meeting of the AHA Centre, the 6th ASEAN Disaster Resilience Platform (ADRP) Meeting, and related meetings from Oct 21 until today.

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“Malaysia plays an active role through the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response (AADMER) and is a key supporter of every activity under the AADMER as the co-chair of the ACDM Working Group on Preparedness, Response, and Recovery (WG on PRR),” he said in a statement today.

Ahmad Zahid, who is also chairman of  National Disaster Management Committee, is currently attending the three-day 12th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Disaster Management (AMMDM) which began today in Brunei.

Ahmad Zahid stated that the ACDM was established in early 2003 under the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community. Initially, it was an expert institution that had existed since the 1970s before being strengthened and upgraded into a full committee in 2003.

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He explained that as a committee, ACDM developed the AADMER, which was ratified by all 10 member states and came into effect in December 2009.

“AADMER is a legally binding regional agreement, and as such, member states have an obligation to promote regional cooperation to build resilience, reduce disaster losses, and enhance collective disaster response efforts,” he said.

Ahmad Zahid said that the planning and implementation of AADMER are carried out through its work programmes, with the purpose of monitoring the implementation of programmes and initiatives.

He said updates on the implementation of programmes, activities, and issues related to AADMER, as well as cross-sector cooperation and the operation of the AHA Centre, need to be reported at the ACDM meetings, which are held twice a year.

“The outcomes of the ACDM meetings will be reported at the AMMDM and the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the AADMER, which will take place tomorrow,” he said.

-- BERNAMA