Vietnam sees the need for regional exercises in disaster relief

PANO – “The participating Vietnamese detachment has successfully fulfilled all the assigned tasks at a multilateral exercise on military medicine, disaster relief and humanitarian assistance within the framework of the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM+),” said Senior Colonel Nguyen Huu Hung, Deputy Chief of the Search and Rescue Department under the General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army.

The exercise, which took place recently in Thailand, drew the participation of more than 2,000 officials, experts and troops from 18 countries.

Senior Colonel Hung revealed that the exercise had many complex scenarios, requiring a close coordination among contingents of the participating countries. The participating Vietnamese troops with their high determination, great endeavor and good skills accomplished all tasks assigned by the exercise organizing panel, he concluded.

Offcials of Vietnam's Search and Rescue Department participating in exercises on disaster relief and humanitarian assistance at ADMM+

Over the past few years, the Vietnam People Army has officially participated in multilateral regional exercises on humanitarian assistance, disaster relief and military medicine. Earlier this year, Vietnam also organized an on-map international exercise on disaster relief and humanitarian assistance with the participation of US experts and international organizations.

Vietnam sees such an exercise as a good opportunity to exchange knowledge, skills and experiences in disaster relief, search and rescue, humanitarian assistance and military medicine, as well as to promote mutual understanding and solidarity among regional armies.

Cooperation in disaster relief, search and rescue and humanitarian assistance is more significant as the region, including Vietnam, is suffering increasing consequences of climate change, particularly sea-level rise, seawater intrusion, storm, flood, and drought, that cause huge human and material losses to regional countries.

Chief of the Department of Search and Rescue under the General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army said, “Climate change is beyond the border of a country, threatening lives of people and security in the region so regional countries should join common effort and collaborate with one another to combat it and render support to each other in dealing with the aftermath of climate change.”

Vietnam will actively join regional exercises on disaster relief, search and rescue, humanitarian assistance and military medicine with the aim of exchanging information, knowledge, skills and experiences in disaster relief, search and rescue, humanitarian assistance and military medicine, and promoting cooperation in these areas with other regional countries, the General-rank officer said.