HCMC – The Ministry of Health on December 2 received 500,000 AstraZeneca vaccine doses worth over US$2 million donated by the Argentine Government.
At a ceremony to receive the vaccine, Deputy Minister of Health Tran Van Thuan thanked the Argentine Government, the people, the Ministry of Health and the Embassy in Vietnam, the local media reported.
The Ministry of Health will use the vaccine appropriately to increase public immunity, contributing to bringing the pandemic under control, Thuan added.
At the ceremony, Luis Pablo María Beltramino, Argentine ambassador to Vietnam, said Argentina fondly remembered Vietnam’s donation of 20,000 medical face masks last year.
This the first time the Argentine Government has donated Covid-19 vaccines to a country.
The ambassador said the two sides should enhance their cooperation in the fight against the pandemic, specifically in the pharmaceutical sector.
In related news, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi, at a meeting with his Vietnamese counterpart Bui Thanh Son on December 2, as part of the latter’s visit to China from December 2 to 4, announced that China would provide Vietnam with US$3.1 million to buy medical supplies and 500,000 vaccine doses.
Wang affirmed that China would continue cooperating with Vietnam in the Covid fight, according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The two sides also discussed ways to maintain trade and economic cooperation activities.
They highly evaluated the results of the bilateral partnership last year despite the impact of the Covid-19. In the January-October this year, the two countries’ trade value reached US$133.65 billion, exceeding the trade value in 2020.
Minister Son suggested China create favorable conditions for Vietnamese products, especially farm produce, to enter the Chinese market, contributing to balancing the bilateral trade and maintaining the supply and productions chains of the two countries.
Minister Wang said China would increase the import of Vietnamese products and encourage its enterprises to invest in large hi-tech projects in Vietnam.
The two sides also agreed to jointly control disputes at sea, maintain peace and security in the East Sea, fully and effectively implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea, and speed up negotiations for the development of the Code of Conduct in the East Sea in line with international law, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982.
