Asia-Pacific eyes coordinated disaster relief work

The region has been devastated by major natural disasters over the past several years, including the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, and the deadly Myanmar cyclone and the large earthquake in China in May.

Foreign ministers of 26 countries and the European Union discussed a joint relief exercise to be held in 2009 and called for civilian-military coordination in future disaster relief.

"It makes a lot of sense to conduct such exercises," said host Singapore's Foreign Minister George Yeo. It is important to have "a common vocabulary so that we don't misunderstand each other when we are in a hurry."

The ministers gathered for the annual security conference of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and its 17 partners. They cover virtually half the world--from the U.S. and EU to Russia and Australia.

Yeo said they also talked about North Korea's nuclear program, terrorism, counterterrorism, the border dispute between Cambodia and Thailand as well as problems of food and energy.

Disaster relief however dominated discussions at the five-day conference.

A statement at the end of the meeting said the ministers "recognized that military assets and personnel, in full support and not in place of civilian responses, have played an increasingly important role in regional disaster responses."

The statement said the ministers endorsed a proposal by the Philippines and the U.S. to conduct a disaster relief exercise in 2009, and that potential sites and dates have been identified.

The ministers also told their officials to develop guidelines for relief cooperation, and to draw up a plan aimed at coordinating training for disaster preparedness among the 27 members.