Asean meeting highlights emergency simulation exercises for disaster mitigation

JAKARTA - An Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) meeting on disaster risk kicked off in Indonesia's Yogyakarta province on Tuesday with the core agenda of emergency simulation exercises for disaster mitigation.

The meeting, called Asean Disaster Emergency Response Simulation Exercise (Ardex), is being held from Aug 1 to 4, attended by over 1,000 people including participants from Indonesia and representatives from Asean countries and the Asean Secretariat.

"We hope Asean countries can share and transfer knowledge to each other regarding disaster risk mitigation. And through Ardex, we would also seek ways to mitigate and reduce disaster risks by embracing multi-stakeholders in the related fields," said head of Indonesia's national disaster management agency BNPB Lieutenant General Suharyanto, reported Xinhua.

Asean should consider technological innovation in dealing with disaster threats, but the implementation should be in line with local wisdom and cultures of each member country, he added.

Suharyanto said that Yogyakarta was chosen to host Ardex this year because the region was very prone to earthquakes, where in 2006, a strong earthquake killed over 5,700 people. - BERNAMA-XINHUA