At the Conference on integrated disaster risk management and agricultural resilience to climate hazards in Vietnam held on October 13, Achim Fock, World Bank Acting Country Director for Vietnam said that Vietnam is one of the most hazard-prone countries in the East Asia and Pacific region, with droughts, severe storms, and flooding causing substantial economic and human losses.
Doksuri, the tenth storm in the East Sea hits Vietnam (Photo: Internet)
“Over the past two decades, disasters in Vietnam have caused more than 13,000 deaths as well as property damage in excess of US$6.4 billion,” said Achim Fock.
Annually, disasters cost Vietnam an average of up to 1.5 per cent of its GDP and 300 lives. In the event of a major disaster, this can go as high as four per cent of GDP. Agriculture is considered the most vulnerable sector for almost kinds of natural disasters.
In the next 50 years, Vietnam has a 40 per cent chance of experiencing an event with economic losses exceeding VND141 trillion (roughly US$6.7 billion).
For the passing years, Vietnam has made a great effort in addressing the challenges in terms of natural disasters via enhancing the capacity to forecast natural disaster and the investment in production and transportation infrastructure as well as organizing programs to support environmentally vulnerable localities. It has developed and implemented policies and set up legal frameworks for disaster risk management which need to be fully implemented.
According to Nguyen Xuan Cuong, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and Chairman of the Central Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention, protection and prevention are key priorities in ensuring economic growth and poverty reduction. A holistic approach is needed besides traditional ones, with the development of essential infrastructure and supporting tools, and the application of science and technology in integrated disaster risk management.
At the conference, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung called on international institutions to support developing countries like Vietnam who are dramatically vulnerable to natural disasters.
Deputy PM Trinh Dinh Dung
The World Bank has also committed to helping Vietnam sustain its remarkable socio-economic success in the face of increasing climate risks.
