A conference to promote sharing regional and international experience innatural disaster management took place in Hanoi on November 17.

Addressing the event, head of the National Assembly(NA) Committee for Science, Technology and Environment, Phan Xuan Dung,said the conference was held in the context that Vietnam is facingmany calamities such as floods, storms, drought, landslides,earthquakes, desertification and rising sea level.

He said the results of the conference will help NA deputies consider thedraft law on natural disaster prevention, response and mitigation whichis expected to be approved at a NA session in May, 2013.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Cao Duc Phat, stressedthe importance of exchanging experiences with other countries in thefield. He added that Vietnam has been facing complicated climatechanges and needs to make proper amendments to prevent and reduce therisks of natural disasters.

Speaking at theconference, UNDP Country Director for Vietnam, Louis Chamberlain,highlighted the importance of the event for Vietnam, which has tocope with new kinds of unexpected natural disasters.

She praised the efforts of the Vietnamese Government to reduce and ease the risk of natural disasters over the past years.

She also gave some suggestions to the draft law to prevent and reduce the risk of natural disasters.

During the conference, participants discussed regional andinternational cooperation in the field, as well as models to prevent andreduce the threat of natural disasters in such countries as Japan,Thailand, China, the Philippines, Indonesia and the US .

Various measures to manage natural disaster risks were tabled at the event.-VNA