Vietnam President Calls for Efforts to Tackle Inclement Weather

Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet has called on ministries, provincial and municipal authorities, and agencies across the country to make efforts to cope with bad weather as part of efforts to finalize the socio-economic development targets. Triet made the call in a letter on the occasion of the 64th anniversary of the Natural Disaster Control and Mitigation Day [May 22] in Vietnam, the state-run Vietnam News Agency said. Triet said in his letter that Vietnam was one of countries hardest hit by natural disasters and climate change. Floods, tidal surges and powerful storms have become more frequent, causing greater losses to the country. In the first months of this year, the Southeast Asian country have faced abnormal weather with widespread hot spells, which considerably reduced water levels in rivers and steams, affecting people’s lives and production, particularly the agriculture sector, he noted. Every year the Southeast Asian country braces around ten storms and this year six to seven tropical pressures and storms are forecast to make landfall on it. Last year, the disasters left 454 dead and missing in Vietnam and caused total losses of more than VND23 trillion ($1.2 billion).