Vietnam sets clear roles to uphold the ‘6 precise guidelines’ in disaster response

"No situation where people are cut off and leaders say they can't get there"

On the afternoon of July 24, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Head of the National Steering Committee for Civil Defense, chaired the Committee's first meeting on disaster prevention, control, and search and rescue for 2025.

The meeting was connected online from the Government headquarters to 34 provinces and centrally run cities, and 3,321 communes, wards, and special zones nationwide.

In his opening remarks, on behalf of General Secretary To Lam, the Party and State leaders, and with personal sympathy, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh extended his deepest condolences to the families of those affected by disasters, especially the victims who died or went missing in the Green Bay 58 boat capsizing tradegy (Ha Long, Quang Ninh) and in Typhoon Wipha in recent days.

The Prime Minister also shared the pain, immense loss, and property damage suffered by residents in mountainous communes of Nghe An province, which are currently enduring severe flooding due to the impact of Typhoon Wipha and its lingering effects.

The Prime Minister stated that on the morning of July 24, Minister of National Defense Phan Van Giang directed the use of helicopters to supply food, provisions, and essential items to people in the isolated areas of Nghe An. Previously, the Prime Minister had dispatched the Deputy Prime Minister to Nghe An to be present in critical areas, assess the situation, and directly supervise the response efforts.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized that there must be absolutely no complacency or negligence in the face of natural disasters. He specifically warned against a situation where "people are cut off and leaders say they can't get there".

"When there's a disconnect, that's precisely when leaders and key forces are needed to find every way to grasp the situation, every way to access the isolated areas, and every way to supply food, provisions, and water to the people", the Prime Minister stressed.

Assigning responsibilities to ensure "6 precise guidelines"

By definition, civil defense includes measures for preventing, combating, and overcoming the consequences of war; and preventing, combating, and overcoming the consequences of incidents, disasters, natural calamities, and epidemics.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh clarified that the first meeting of the Steering Committee aimed to discuss one of its very important tasks: directing the implementation of natural disaster prevention and control.

According to the head of the Government, natural disaster prevention and control is a special defense task, like "blocking storms in the morning and preventing scorching heat in the afternoon". This is because Vietnam has a long coastline and frequently faces many types of natural disasters, from typhoons, floods, flash floods, landslides, earthquakes to droughts and saltwater intrusion.

The Prime Minister emphasized that the impacts of climate change are making weather and natural disasters increasingly erratic, extreme, and unpredictable. In 2024, Typhoon Yagi was the strongest storm in the past 70 years. Last June, heavy rains and flooding occurred in the Central region during the dry season. On the night of July 22, 2025, upstream water from the Ca River flowed into the Ban Ve hydropower reservoir at a frequency that occurs only once every many years. There was also the tourist boat capsize incident in Ha Long, Quang Ninh, on the afternoon of July 19, when a sudden squall occurred with hail and strong swirling winds.

Regarding Typhoon Wipha in 2025, all levels, sectors, and localities have been very proactive in implementing natural disaster prevention and control, forecasting, warning, and disseminating information to help people proactively prevent and respond to the typhoon, minimizing damage. However, the impact before and the lingering effects after the typhoon still caused significant losses.

Therefore, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh requested the first meeting of the National Steering Committee for Civil Defense to focus on discussing and evaluating natural disaster prevention, control, and recovery efforts in the past period. This includes clarifying successes and shortcomings, from leadership and direction to the response of various sectors, localities, and the public; identifying existing problems, limitations, difficulties, and drawing lessons learned; and determining tasks for the remaining months of the year and the upcoming period.

Along with that, the meeting will discuss and assign tasks for advising on natural disaster prevention and control, and delineate responsibilities for advising on natural disaster prevention and control.

The Prime Minister proposed assigning responsibilities to ensure six precise guidelines: defined individual, specified task, set timeframe, accountable responsibility, delegated authority, and tangible results at both central and local levels.

The Prime Minister also suggested discussing and evaluating the advantages, difficulties, and obstacles of natural disaster prevention and control and search and rescue when implementing the two-tier local government model, and sharing good experiences and lessons.