mr president first of all i would like to express my deep condolences to the families of those who died during the morakot typhoon
it is regrettable that hundreds have died others lost their loved ones and many more were injured
as many observers have noted the number of victims could have been lower if the government had reacted in a more coordinated manner to the typhoon
the government failed to predict the seriousness of the tropical storm approaching the island
at the same time we know that taiwan has a highly developed high-tech sector and is one of the largest manufacturers of gps systems in the world
part of the blame should be attributed to the fact that taiwan is not yet a member of the world meteorological organisation wmo as has already been mentioned by some colleagues
taiwan could have been better pre-warned if the wmo provided it with timely information
i am therefore convinced that the time is right again to raise the issue of taiwan's membership in the wmo not only for political reasons but also for humanitarian ones
