VINH, Vietnam. – The countries members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum agreed on the need to use science and technology in the prevention and confrontation of natural disasters.

Some 200 experts and officials met at the Vietnamese city of Vinh to share ideas in order to strengthen regional cooperation in the face of the growing threat of earthquakes, droughts, floods, typhoons, and other events.

Representatives from Japan and the Philippines, frequent victims of those calamities, shared their experiences on prediction, defense, and recovery by using tools that modern science and technology provide.

According to NASA studies, Southeast Asia is one of the regions where this global phenomenon is perceived the most, along with West Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and the Amazon Basin.