(Reuters) — Leaders of the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) signed an agreement on collective response to disasters on the sidelines of a regional meeting in Laos on Tuesday (September 6).
The agreement affirmed the 10-nation bloc’s will to respond to disasters inside and outside the region as a body, including establishing a common mechanism and response system.
The pact is meant to enhance ASEAN’s collective reaction in a fragile region familiar with major disasters.
Indonesia and Thailand were at the heart of Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, which killed over 220,000 people in the two countries. The Philippines was hit by the deadliest typhoon ever in 2013, killing over 6,000 people, and Myanmar is constantly in the path of powerful typhoons.
Following the signing, the ten nations concluded the first day of the ASEAN meeting and are set to meet international dialogue partners over the following two days.