APDIM center in Iran to enhance national interests: Government

Tehran, Jan 30, IRNA – Establishment of the Asian and Pacific Centre for the Development of Disaster Information Management (APDIM) office in Tehran is expected to significantly promote national interests, said Iran's head of the Plan and Budget Organization. Mohammad-Baqer Nobakht and UN Under Secretary-General Ms. Shamshad Akhtar on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding on establishing the APDIM office in the Iranian capital. Creating such a center will provide the active diplomacy of the Islamic Republic of Iran with an opportunity to help decrease the effects of natural disasters and dust storms in the region, Nobakht said on the sidelines of a two-day meeting between Iranian officials and APDIM authorities in Tehran on Tuesday. 'The center could also promote regional and global peace,' he added. The Iranian official also said that establishment of the APDIM office in Iran, with the country's Plan and Budget Organization as its superintendent, is expected to create a good capacity for Iran and its neighbors to reduce effects of natural calamities. APDIM which is a center affiliated with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) was proposed by Iran. The center aims to provide ESCAP member states with information on disasters especially earthquake. 1378IRNA