Participants at the Regional Table Top Exercise for States Parties in Asia on Article X and Related Issues
The Organsation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the Government of Indonesia hosted a Table Top Exercise (TTX) for States Parties in Asia on Article X and Issues of Regional Cooperation in the Area of Assistance and Emergency Response in Indonesia from 24-26 March 2015.
Twenty-five participants from 14 State Parties* participated in the event jointly organised by the Technical Secretariat and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia (Directorate of International Security and Disarmament), the Ministry of Industry of Indonesia (Directorate of Basic Chemical Industry) and with the full support of the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia to the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
In his opening statement, the Director for Basic Chemical Industry of the Indonesian Ministry of Industry, Mr. Muhammad Khayam, noted that the Regional TTX would enhance national and regional capacities in predicting hazards, detecting and decontaminating chemical agents, providing medical relief and on-site humanitarian response. He added that these effects would further increase the readiness of State Parties in the region to deliver effective and timely assistance to victims of exposure to toxic chemicals.
The TTX provided participants with a platform to discuss and analyse chemical emergency management in a challenging scenario. They dealt with various injects which added more information or updated the circumstances, requiring them to consider elements of risk assessment and contingency planning.
* Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar