The Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI) Disaster Management Workshop opened inHo Chi Minh City on Sept. 12 with the aim to develop the capabilitiesin disaster management for Cambodia , Laos , Thailand and Vietnam.

The five-day workshop is held by the Vietnamese Ministryof Agriculture and Rural Development with the support of the DefenceMinistry of Vietnam and the US Pacific Command.

The workshop combines three days of active discussion sessions with two days of field trips to the Mekong Delta.

Participantsfrom the four Lower Mekong countries and the US will shareknowledge and experience on issues such as flood management, disasterpreparedness and response to food and water shortage, public healthconcerns, and pandemic control. They will take the opportunity toidentify national priorities and challenges; work together to developcommon approaches to address specific challenges; and strengthenexisting relationships while setting the foundation for futureengagement.

Addressing the workshop, US Consul General to HoChi Minh City Le Thanh An stressed that the workshop not onlyfacilitates dialogue among the LMI partner countries, but, crucially, italso connects civilian and military officials within and among theparticipating countries. Effective civilian-military partnership isessential to disaster and pandemic preparedness and response, he said.

The workshop is part of the Lower Mekong Initiative,launched in 2009 by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton andthe foreign ministers of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam with theaim of strengthening regional cooperation to better respond to commonchallenges and opportunities in the areas of education, environment,health, and infrastructure./.