Vietnam City OKs $4.39M for Natural Disaster Mitigation

Vietnam’s central province of Danang has approved allocating VND84 billion ($4.39 million) to implement a project to prevent and mitigate natural disasters, the Tien Phong newspaper reported March 4. The project, which will be managed by the municipal Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, is slated for implementation between 2010 and 2020. The project is aimed at improving the public awareness and management capacity of all local officials for preventing and mitigating natural disasters, the newspaper added. Danang is listed among flood-hit areas in Vietnam’s central region. Natural disasters left 500 dead and missing in Vietnam and caused losses equivalent to nearly 2% of the country’s GDP in 2009.