According to Bloomberg report dated October 14th local time, Malaysia is turning to Chinese satellite technology in order to receive earlier warnings of floods that hit the country during the annual northeast monsoon season.
Malaysia is prone to flash floods and landslides during the northeast monsoon season. From November to March of the following year, the country is usually affected by heavy rainfall.
The devastating floods that hit Malaysia in December 2021 were one of the worst in the country's history, resulting in more than 50 deaths and displaced about 400,000 people. According to government estimates, the disaster caused damages of approximately 6.1 billion Ringgits (about $1.5 billion), with countless houses, factories, and businesses being flooded and infrastructure damaged. Selangor, a region with a high degree of industrialization, was one of the most severely affected areas.
According to the Malaysian National News Agency, Zaidin, the Malay Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Rural and Regional Development who is currently visiting China, said on Tuesday that the country plans to cooperate with China in the fields of meteorological equipment and satellite early warning systems.
Zahid also serves as the chairman of the National Central Disaster Management Committee. He explained that although Malaysia's meteorological agency currently has its own systems, China's meteorological and satellite early warning technologies are more advanced. The introduction of Chinese systems can provide more comprehensive and accurate weather forecasts, giving the country more time to deploy disaster prevention measures, coordinate evacuations, and reduce economic losses.
We recognize that China has more advanced and precise technological capabilities,” he said, “We hope to cooperate with China to obtain more advanced global weather forecasting equipment. This is particularly crucial for us in dealing with the Northeast monsoon.”
Zahid further explained that since this collaboration involves not only hardware equipment but also complex satellite technology, it is very likely that the system will not be put into use immediately during this year's Northeast Monsoon season.
He will discuss with the Chinese side the acceleration of introducing relevant systems. “We will strive to facilitate the transfer of technology, systems, and equipment as soon as possible, so that they can be used in the next few years.”
I hope to cooperate with China, especially in obtaining more accurate weather forecast data and information. This will enable us to prepare for evacuation earlier and properly keep important documents of flood victims.
Zahid emphasized, “We cannot prevent natural disasters from happening, but we can be prepared to deal with them.”
According to his supplementary statement, Malaysia also proposed to reach a bilateral agreement with China regarding disaster cooperation, including mutual legal assistance in case of national disasters.
