(VOVworld) - The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has approved a World Bank (WB)-funded “disaster management” project at an investment level of approximately 180 million USD.

Of the total amount, US$150 million comes from WB loans and the remaining from corresponding capital. The project will be implemented from 2012 to 2017 in the central coastal provinces with the aim of minimizing human and property losses caused by natural disasters. It also aims to improve the weather forecast and early warning systems and data collection and analysis for the public to anticipate natural disasters as well as developing a sustainable hydrometeorology model and supplying technical equipment for observing and monitoring stations.