PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia will work closely with Russia to boost its disaster management through joint training, knowledge exchange and coordinated emergency response, says Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
The Deputy Prime Minister said a memorandum of understanding between the two countries is expected to be signed some time this year.
“As Asean Chair this year, Malaysia remains committed to regional leadership in disaster response,” he told a joint press conference with Russian Civil Defence, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters (Emercom) Minister, Colonel General Alexander Kurenkov yesterday.
Ahmad Zahid, who is also the national disaster management agency (Nadma) committee chairman, said Malaysia welcomed Russia’s offer on capacity-building programmes for our officers, including a specialised training course in Vladivostok in September.
“We are exploring broader collaboration, including technology transfer in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) applications for disaster monitoring,” he added, Bernama reported.
He said Malaysia and Russia agreed to conduct joint search and rescue training between the Special Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (SMART) and Russia’s RUS-03 team.
Ahmad Zahid expressed appreciation to Russia for the offer to train the SMART team and the invitation to allow senior officers from the Fire and Rescue Department to participate in a specialised course at a leading university in St Petersburg.
The Deputy Prime Minister also expressed appreciation for the working relationship between Nadma and Emercom, particularly through regional initiatives under the International Search and Rescue Advisory Group and the Asean Committee on Disaster Management.
Meanwhile, Kurenkov said several key areas were discussed during his meeting with Ahmad Zahid, including the professional training and education of firefighters and rescue personnel.
“Emercom’s academies offer a wide range of programmes for international specialists, not only for firefighters and rescuers but also for medics, dog handlers and UAV operators,” he said.
He also emphasised Emercom’s interest in understanding Malaysia’s modern approaches to fire and rescue training, noting the value of exchanging best practices.
He said both sides are committed to improving mutual early-warning capabilities and risk communication related to natural disasters, particularly in the areas of prevention, prediction and risk management using the systems of space monitoring and distant zoning of Earth.
