It was launched with the extended greeting of Union Minister for Transport and Communications U Thant Sin Maung and the opening remarks of Director-General of India Meteorological Department Ms Sunitha Devi Santhamma, Chief of Disaster Risk Reduction at UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) Dr Sanjay K Srivastava and Representative of World Meteorological Organization Dr Taoyong Peng.

The main objective of the five-day panel is to discuss dissemination of technical information on research and forecasting of tropical cyclones in the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea among the member countries of Myanmar, Oman, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Yemen.

The panel also aims at mitigating the socio-economic impact of tropical cyclone related disasters and will discuss measures to improve early warning systems in countries affected by tropical cyclones.

Representatives of the panel will discuss meteorological and hydrological disasters which occurred between September 2018 and August 2019, preparedness measures on natural disasters, capacity-building courses and research activities.
The panel will approve the new suggested names of member countries on cyclones in Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea, and discuss the contribution of funds in the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) Panel on Tropical Cyclone Trust Fund (PTCTF).

The opening ceremony of the panel was also attended by Union Minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation Dr Aung Thu, Deputy Minister for Transport and Communications U Thar Oo, Permanent Secretaries, experts from WMO and UNESCAP, technicians from Chinese Meteorological Administration and Japanese International Centre for Water Hazard and Risk Management (ICHARM) and the experts and officials from the panel countries. Myanmar hosted the 39th session of this panel in the same capital city from 5 to 9 March 2012. 

MNA
(Translated by Aung Khin)