South, Southeast Asian regions coordinate on flood prevention efforts

BANGKOK, November 6 (TNA) - Thailand and allied countries in South and Southeast Asian regions jointly organized a round-table brainstorming seminar here on Wednesday, aimed to find and work out collective measures to prevent and to address the flooding problem in the regions. The seminar, chaired by Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Yukol Limlaemthong, discussed flood related issues in the regions, covering those on impacts from the expanding urbanization into rural areas. Yukol said a latest survey found that 1 in every 15 people living near the mouths of rivers in the regions had been affected by floods and rive banks erosion. The Thai deputy premier noted that over the past five years, increased natural disasters worldwide have caused greater economic losses and damages, while investment on land development needs to have now taken into account a possible risk of natural disasters in targeted areas, leading to more loss from being unable to fully utilize the land. Participants in the round-table seminar include Myanmar's Transport Minister Nyan Tan Aung and Vietnam's former deputy agriculture and rural development minister Dr. Dao Xuan Hoc, as well as international natural resources experts and officials from the Asian Disaster Centre. (TNA)