China and ASEAN sign Memorandum of Understanding on Disaster Management

According to Xinhua News Agency, on October 6th, in Jakarta, Indonesia, the Chinese government and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on disaster management.

This is a first step towards improving the partnership between ASEAN and China in this area.

ASEAN Secretary-General Le Luong Minh. (Photo: AFP/VNA)

According to the MoU, China will provide 50 million yuan (approximately US$8.1 million) to implement the ASEAN Agreement on the ASEAN Emergency Response and Disaster Management Programme (AADMER), as well as to operate the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management and the ASEAN Secretariat's capacity-building program on disaster management.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, ASEAN Secretary-General Le Luong Minh stated that further dialogue and interaction are still needed to fully implement the points set out in this MoU.

According to Chinese Ambassador to ASEAN Yang Xiuping, this is the first Chinese grant to ASEAN disbursed through a multilateral mechanism.

Ms. Duong emphasized that disaster response is crucial for governments and people affected by disasters.

Through this funding, China hopes to help countries affected by the disaster.

According to VNA