Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Moha Borvor Thipadei Hun Manet has called on ASEAN to strengthen long-term resilience by rebuilding and developing climate-resilient infrastructure in both urban and rural areas.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 13th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Disaster Management (AMMDM)/ the 14th Meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP) to the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response (AADMER) in Phnom Penh this morning, Samdech Thipadei highlighted that disasters of all forms continue to pose serious challenges to all nations.
Even small-scale disasters, but they leave lasting impacts on people and societies, while the growing threats of climate change have made disasters more frequent, intense, and unpredictable, he underlined.
Samdech Thipadei Hun Manet who is also Chairman of the National Committee for Disaster Management pointed to recent earthquakes, floods, and tropical cyclones that caused significant casualties and extensive damage across the region.
Samdech Thipadei stressed that beyond emergency response and humanitarian relief, ASEAN must focus on building more resilient infrastructure and strengthening disaster management capacity, noting disparities in financial, physical, and human resources among member states.
