ASEAN urged to fight natural disasters

ASEAN urged to fight natural disasters

CAMBODIA: The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) must continue to stand together to help each other handle or even avert natural disasters, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen told a meeting on the subject held in Phnom Penh on Tuesday.

The premier opened the ASEAN meeting on disaster management in the wake of a series of national disasters, including typhoons and mudslides, that have left members such as the Philippines and Vietnam reeling in recent weeks.

"I am happy to say that ASEAN nations stand together and regionally to help each other," Hun Sen told the meeting.

The gathering was ASEAN's opportunity to discuss its united strategies on natural disasters ahead of a meeting of the world community on the subject in Kobe, Japan next month.

Hun Sen said his country was currently also facing the threat of drought, and that the cycle of flood and drought was one Cambodia knew all too well.

"Almost all ASEAN nations face the threat of natural disasters every day, particularly Cambodia, where around 80 percent of our territory lies in lowland areas of the Mekong Basin," he said.

"This makes Cambodia prone to flooding almost every year...Cambodia is also more severely affected by drought than other Southeast Asian countries," he said. --DPA