During a forum meeting in Bangkok, Thailand with delegates from nine Southeast Asian countries, Dr. Noeleen Heyzer, executive secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), "told the forum that national and regional disaster risk reduction plans must be implemented more quickly." Dr. Heyzer went on to note that "hazards become disasters in the absence of development and with inadequate investment in risk reduction. This knowledge-sharing meeting presents us with the opportunity to address gaps in regional and national disaster preparedness, management and response."