(VOV) – On June 18, Vietnam and India co-hosted their first meeting on humanitarian mine action within the ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting Plus (ADMM+), to devise an action plan for 2014-2017.
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The event was attended by policy makers and humanitarian mine action experts from 18 ADMM + member countries and ASEAN Secretariat representatives
In his statement, Deputy Defense Minister Nguyen Chi Vinh said that despite the war finishing decades ago, ,its consequences continue to impact heavily on security, the environment, living conditions and socio- economic development of many developing countries in the region, namely on the farming environment, exploitation of natural resources and resources from agriculture, forestry and fishery.
It takes the affected countries many years to recover from the effects of war. The countries themselves do not have enough resources, technology and experience to deal with the issue. Southeast Asia nations- Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar and the Philippines are suffering from contamination of bombs, mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO), requiring combined efforts from regional and international communities to resolve the problem..
“Vietnam is a country severely affected by bombs, mines and unexploded ordnance, contamination, mines and explosives left from the war. The Vietnam People’s Army is the core force in safely deactivating bombs and landmines, clearing up land and the environment to help the people stabilise their lives.
The Vietnamese Government as well as the Defence Ministry support the promotion of humanitarian mine action cooperation with other regional countries.” Vinh said.
Regarding the action plan for the 2014-2017 period, the group will establish a coordination channel and mechanisms for cooperation in sharing information, experiences and legal aspects involved in humanitarian mine activities, organising technical demonstrations on bomb, mine and UXO clearance by applying advanced technology.
The final expert group meeting is scheduled to be held in late 2016 or in early 2017 to review activities, draw from previous experinece and propose specific cooperation projects for the following years.
Đăng ký: VietNam News