The statement was made by Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung at the opening ceremony of the second meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP-2) to the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response (AADMER) in the capital Hanoi on Thursday. In Vietnam, natural disasters have killed around 300 people annually over the past 10 years, causing losses roughly equal to 1.5 percent of its annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Vietnam has developed national strategy on natural disaster prevention, response and mitigation up to 2020. It also has national strategy on climate change and has promulgated a number of important legal documents, such as the Law on Water Natural Resource, and for Natural Disaster Prevention. The Prime Minister affirmed that Vietnam has actively participated in international and regional forums on natural disaster management and implemented the Hyogo action framework on disaster mitigation. Prime Minister Dung: "Disaster management and emergency responses are among top priorities for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)'s members and partners. The signing of the AADMER has created a legal framework which will strengthen cooperation in natural disasters prevention and mitigation in the region. The first phase of the agreement (2010-2012) has recorded encouraging results. Disaster management and emergency response cooperation between ASEAN and its partners has delivered positive results from specific projects supported byJapan, Australia, New Zealand, the US, and the European Union (EU)".