The official made the remark during a seminar, held by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control, in Hanoi on August 16.
Vietnam is currently one of the five countries most severely affected by climate change, with severe weather phenomena taking place in an increasingly fierce manner, causing great impacts on the environment as well as socio-economic activities and the sustainable development of the country, Cuong stated.
Natural disaster response has become point of discussion throughout the survival and development process, he said, suggesting S&T application focus on the work of forecast, warning, response, and post-disaster resolve and reconstruction, while gathering the involvement of both scientists and businesses with inventions and technical applications in disaster prevention and control.
According to Doan Thi Tuyet Nga, Director of the Science, Technology and External Relations Department under the MARD’s Vietnam Disaster Management Authority (VNDMA), the application of S&T in natural disaster prevention and control, warning, forecast and monitoring should focus on the building of a disaster database, featuring dykes, landslides, flood maps, satellite images, and real-time reservoir management and operation tools.
Regarding the enhancement of public awareness of disaster prevention and control, Acting Director of the Disaster Management Department under the VNDMA, Dang Quang Minh, held that the application of S&T focus on the use of Facebook, apps on smart phones, the online training system (E-Learning) and visual communication. Currently, the VNDMA is reviewing and re-building its guiding documents in the form of video clips using 3D graphics, he added.
During the seminar, delegates affirmed the necessity of applying S&T in natural disaster prevention and control, while discussing the issues related to the pilot early flood and flash flood warning system for some areas in Lao Cai and Yen Bai provinces, the early mud flood warning technology for Ban Khoang commune in Sapa, Lao Cai, the application of S&T in dyke management, and the application of technological solutions to deal with coastal erosion in the Mekong Delta region.
