Vietnam Donates COVID-19 RT-PCR Test Kits to the Philippines
From left to right - Vietnamese Second Secretary Mr Nguyen Thai Giang, Health Undersecretary Carolina Taino, Foreign Affairs Teodoro L. Locsin, Jr., Vietnamese Ambassador Hoang Huy Chung, and oreign Affairs Assistant Secretary for Asian and Pacific Affairs Meynardo L.B. (Photo by DFA Nilo K. Palaya)
PASAY CITY, 28 October 2020 – A ceremonial turnover was held today at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) for a US$ 50,000-worth of COVID-19 RT-PCR test kits with accompanying extraction kits from the Vietnamese government to the Philippines, through the Department of Health (DOH).
Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin, Jr., and Health Undersecretary Carolina Taino ceremonially received the donation from Vietnamese Ambassador Hoang Huy Chung. The test kits have since been delivered to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM).
Describing the donation as a manifestation of the enduring close friendship between the Philippines and Vietnam, Ambassador Chung assured Secretary Locsin of the Vietnamese government’s support for the Philippines’ ongoing efforts in fighting COVID-19, as well as in promoting and protecting the welfare of the Filipino people.
The donation, which comes ahead of the 5th anniversary of the establishment of the Philippines-Vietnam Strategic Partnership on 17 November 2020, was shipped with support from Vietnamese entrepreneur Johnathan Hanh Nguyen and the Philippine Embassy in Hanoi. Vietnam is making similar donations to other ASEAN Member States.
Also in attendance at the ceremony were Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary for Asian and Pacific Affairs Meynardo L.B., Foreign Affairs Director for Southeast Asia I Donna Celeste D. Feliciano-Gatmaytan, and Vietnamese Second Secretary Nguyen Thai Giang. END
(Photo by DFA Nilo K. Palaya)