HCMC – Australia will donate 2.6 million more doses of Covid vaccine to Vietnam, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne announced at a meeting with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in Hanoi City on November 9.
Some 700,000 doses will arrive first in Vietnam in the coming weeks, Payne added.
The new donation will raise Australia’s total Covid vaccine assistance to Vietnam to 7.8 million, the local media reported.
Speaking at the meeting, the Australian foreign minister also affirmed that Australia considers Vietnam one of its priorities for assistance and cooperation in many fields and expects to enhance the bilateral strategic ties between the two countries in the coming time.
Apart from expressing gratitude for Australia’s donations to Vietnam, PM Chinh proposed the former continue supporting the latter and consider opening the doors for Vietnamese farm produce.
In addition, the prime minister expected Australia to create favorable conditions for Vietnamese citizens living in the country and continue awarding scholarships to Vietnamese students.
In related news, Australia will offer Vietnam relief aid worth AUD6.5 million to help the latter with green recovery. The announcement was made on the same day during the Australian Foreign Minister’s official visit to Vietnam for the annual third Vietnam–Australia Foreign Ministers’ Meeting.
The Covid response green recovery package will comprise AUD2.5 million for four new business partnerships recently announced in the Business Partnerships Platform program framework, helping Vietnam tackle the challenges of climate change and energy transition.
The remaining AUD4 million will be reserved for the Mekong-Australia corporation program to develop low emission and sustainable rice cultivation projects in the Mekong Delta region in Vietnam.
