Share experiences, expertise to tackle disaster
They also underscored the need to share experiences and expertise among the nations in order to effectively tackle such natural calamities as Katrina, tsunami and major earthquake.
They observed that even the USA, the richest country in the world, failed to respond properly to Hurricane Katrina due to lack of coordination and communication facilities.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Lack of community feeling and racial perception are responsible for the suffering of the people affected by Katrina, they pointed out.
On the other hand, people in Bangladesh are community-spirited and homogeneous and they do not hesitate to help each other during any disaster, they observed.
They said community feeling, cyclone centres and readiness of volunteers in evacuating people, particularly in coastal areas, helped minimise the loss of life and property in Bangladesh.
Other disaster-prone countries can share Bangladesh's experience in this regard and use the expertise in handling the aftermath of any disaster, they said.
"We must learn from each other's experience and make concerted efforts to deal with post-disaster situation," said Foreign Minister M Morshed Khan while speaking as the chief guest.
"Our cyclone preparedness programme, post-flood rehabilitation activities and early warning system in coastal areas based on community participation are important lessons for those in a comparative milieu," he said.
The minister urged the research institutes to conduct an in-depth study on how to face any earthquake in the country.
"A global networking system dedicated to sharing of information and common resource pool in the form of trained manpower or equipment could be a good answer to a global or regional disaster management programme," he added.
The Centre for Development Research, Bangladesh (CDRB) organised the daylong seminar at the Women's Voluntary Association (WVA) auditorium in the city.
CDRB Chairman Dr Mizanur Rahman Shelly presided over the seminar while former state minister for foreign affairs Abul Ahsan Chowdhury, University Grants Commission Chairman Prof M Asaduzzaman, President of American Institute of Bangladesh Studies Dr Guy Welbon, Prof Khasruzzaman Chowdhury, Bimal Kanti Pal, Ashrafuddin and Shamsul Alam took part in the discussion.