On October 12, in Ha Long city, Quang Ninh province, the opening ceremony of the 11th ASEAN Ministerial Conference on Disaster Management (AMMMM) took place and in response to the International Day for Natural Disaster Risk Reduction - Day ASEAN Disaster Management.

Các đại biểu tham dự Hội nghị Bộ trưởng ASEAN về Quản lý thiên tai (AMMDM) lần thứ 11 (Ảnh: N.H)

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan - Standing Deputy Head of the National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control attended and chaired the conference. Attending the opening ceremony were ASEAN Deputy Secretary General Ekkaphab Phanthavong, 5 Ministers, 8 Deputy Ministers in the field of natural disaster management from ASEAN member countries and regional development partner countries (including China, Japan). Japan, Korea). East Timor attended as an observer at the conference.
The conference was also attended by more than 150 delegates including officials of natural disaster prevention and control agencies of ASEAN countries, representatives of ministries and branches, members of the National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control, and representatives a number of units under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).
Before the opening session of the 11th AMMDM Conference, all delegates responded to the International Day of Natural Disaster Risk Reduction - ASEAN Disaster Management Day (October 13, 2023).
In his response speech, Minister Le Minh Hoan said: "Today, we all understand that natural disasters are not just a problem of one country or one region. Therefore, with the 10 ASEAN countries - and the future 11 countries with the accession of East Timor, it is necessary to unite as a bloc, join hands to share in times of trouble as well as unanimously prepare human resources and resources. Material resources and mutual support mechanisms are extremely necessary. The saying "If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together" is true to our goal of strengthening ASEAN, building a community with high resilience and sustainable recovery. resilient against natural disasters and disasters. This is also the spirit of ASEAN leaders in the Declaration of One ASEAN, One Response."
According to the rotation order of ASEAN countries, Vietnam carries out the task of Chairing the ASEAN Committee on Natural Disaster Management (ACDM) in 2023 with the theme "From response to early action and strengthening resilience - ASEAN moves towards the goal of global leadership in natural disaster management.
Speaking about the meaning of the topic, Minister Le Minh Hoan said that early action is essentially activities in the stage of preventing and responding to natural disasters that agencies and organizations do to prevent and respond to natural disasters. Natural disaster prevention has been and is being implemented.
Recognizing the superiority and progress of early action in disaster management, ASEAN and its dialogue partners have developed and adopted the ASEAN Framework on Early Action in Disaster Management to orient and implement initiatives and support for early action based on forecasts and warnings, accelerating ASEAN's efforts in building a self-reliant and resilient ASEAN Community, aiming to become a leading mechanism in governance. natural disaster theory.
Following Minister Le Minh Hoan, Ministers and Deputy Ministers of ASEAN countries gave speeches on the theme of 2023. The speeches all expressed the spirit of consensus towards the goal of strengthening early action in ASEAN to reduce natural disaster risks, thereby improving the effectiveness of regional cooperation, gradually realizing the goal of becoming a global leadership cooperation mechanism in the field of natural disaster management. At the same time, we recognized and appreciated the host country Vietnam for its initiative to promote the development of the Ha Long Declaration on "Strengthening early action in natural disaster management".
The declaration affirms the commitment of the Minister in the field of disaster management of ASEAN countries to strengthen the implementation of early action in disaster management in the ASEAN region, especially implementing the three main pillars, including including: Risk information, forecasts and early warning systems; planning, operations and implementation; promote pre-arranged financial resources.
In addition to officially adopting the Ha Long Declaration, the 11th AMMDM Conference also focused on discussing contents, including: Future operational orientation for the Board of Directors of the ASEAN Regional Coordination Center on humanitarian disaster assistance (AHA Center); financial rules of the Disaster Management and Emergency Response Fund; noted the ASEAN Leaders' Declaration on Sustainable Resilience adopted at the 43rd ASEAN Summit in Indonesia; Update on the situation of ASEAN humanitarian support for Myanmar./.