Abdullah Ahmed Al Mandoos, Director of the National Center of Meteorology and Seismology, was unanimously elected as the president of the World Meteorological Regional Association for Asia (RAII).

Dr Al Mandoos succeeded Dr Abdullah Mohammed Al Mannai, Permanent Representative of Qatar to World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Rishi Ram Sharma, Permanent Representative of Nepal to WMO, was elected as the vice president.

"I greatly value this trust you have put in me, and, with God’s help, I hope I will be able to keep up this level of trust," said Dr Al Mandoos. "It is not a victory, but a responsibility that you have put in my hands of the people in this region."

"Asia has a wide geographical surface area, many climatic regions, severe weather conditions and witnesses natural disasters repeatedly," he pointed out. "Many parts of the region have a high density of population living in fragile infrastructure.

"It is natural that we consider these before taking each step. The character of this region demands that I listen to your opinions and carry out your instructions," he mentioned.

Dr. Sharma, Vice President of RAII, revealed that his experience in Nepal, a mountainous, resource-poor country, would complement that of Dr. Al Mandoos.

Ivan Cacic, President of Regional Association VI (Europe), welcomed to the club the presidents of the regional associations. "I look forward to close regional collaborations," he declared.

"I would like to congratulate Dr Al Mandoos for taking up this leadership," WMO President David Grimes remarked.

"It is the most populous and the largest region in the world. It has diversity, scope and climate. It will be a challenge for the RAII President to bring together the community. I look forward to his excellent leadership and contribution to the WMO Executive Council and other processes," he added.

The agenda of the RAII included means to develop traditional weather predictions into impactful, risk-based forecasts and warnings, to expand these to cope with multiple hazards, and to incorporate these into a common planning framework to maximise the benefits.

"The primary responsibility of the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services is to provide timely and accurate forecasts and warnings. However, for the governments, economic sectors and the public to take appropriate action, they need to know the impact of these meteorological hazards on lives, property and the economy," Taalas observed.

"Multi-hazard, impact-based forecasts and warnings are complex and require planning and forging of partnerships at many levels and with many government agencies and stakeholders such as disaster managers, urban planners, educational and health authorities," Taalas said.

"The WMO members must upgrade and strengthen their capacities on a continuous basis to ensure optimum delivery of new services to decision-makers, ranging from day-to-day operations to much longer timescales," he added.