This year’s Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (APMCDRR) will be an opportunity for the Philippines to strengthen its bilateral cooperation with other Asia-Pacific countries in terms of disaster risk reduction, an official of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said on Saturday.

The Philippines will be co-hosting this year’s Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (APMCDRR) on October 14-18 at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City.

“Ito pong conference na ito ay isang plataporma, kung saan tayo po ay magkaroon ng exchange ng knowledge po sa pagtugon sa disaster risk at magkaroon pa tayo ng strengthened bilateral cooperation,” DENR Assistant Secretary Noralene Uy said in news forum in Quezon City.

The biennial conference comes at a time when the disaster risk landscape has scaled to a different magnitude, she said.

According to Uy, the government is continuously encouraging stakeholders to register and join the conference.

Registration is open until Sept. 15. Around 2,500 participants from 62 countries are expected to participate in the event.

In an episode of the Malacañang Insider on Friday, DENR Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga said the Philippines is a model for strategic engagements amid disasters. It’s one of the primary reasons why the country was tapped to co-host the 2024 APMCDRR.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. earlier ordered the creation of an inter-agency committee tasked with overseeing the preparatory and organizing activities for the event.

The APMCDRR is the main regional platform for promoting the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction in the Asia-Pacific Region. *PND*