PHNOM PENH, July 22 (Xinhua) -- The ASEAN Regional Disaster Emergency Response Simulation Exercise 2025 (ARDEX-25) kicked off in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia, on Tuesday.
Held at the Special Force Command 911, the three-day exercise brought together some 650 participants from ASEAN member states, Timor-Leste, and ASEAN dialogue partners, among others.
It was organized by the National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM) in collaboration with the ASEAN Coordinating Center for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Center).
Cambodian Senior Minister Kun Kim, first vice-president of the NCDM, said ARDEX-25 is a full-scale exercise held biennially to test and evaluate ASEAN's disaster preparedness and emergency response mechanisms.
"This includes preparation processes, search and rescue operations, impact assessment, and national-level immediate response strategies linked to ASEAN, with the aim of saving the lives of disaster victims through search and rescue, healthcare services, temporary shelter, food provision, sanitation and hygiene, among others," he said at the opening ceremony of the exercise.
Kim said the exercise was also to test the ASEAN Standard Operating Procedure for Regional Standby Arrangements and Coordination of Joint Disaster Relief and Emergency Response Operations.
He added that the ARDEX-25 comprises table-top exercises, command post exercises, and field training exercises.
ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. ■
