ASEAN collects COVID-19 aid worth over 1.2 billion USD from dialogue partners

Bangkok (VNA) - The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has obtained over 1.2 billion USD worth of combined assistance from 11 dialogue partners, including the most recent one – the UK, according to data collected by the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ ASEAN Department.

Citing the data, news website Thai PBS World reported that almost all the countries have contributed special funds for ASEAN to prepare and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The article wrote the European Union (EU) was the most generous. Through its Team Europe, the bloc provided 941 million USD (800 million EUR) with an additional 5 million USD coming from Germany and 2 million USD from Italy. Both nations are also development partners of ASEAN.

In addition, the US gave a total of 158 million USD to ASEAN members to fight the pandemic. Last week when US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held talks virtually with ASEAN foreign ministers, the US contributed another 500,000 USD to the COVID-19 ASEAN Response Fund.

China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and India each contributed 1 million USD to the fund. The figures for Australia, New Zealand, and Canada were 1 million AUD (735,576 USD), 1 million NZD (701,000 USD), and 3.5 million CAT (2.8 million USD), respectively.

Among the ASEAN plus three partners, Japan came out on top with the allocation of 50 million USD to fund the establishment of the ASEAN Center for Public Health Emergencies and Emerging Diseases.

China has also provided 5 million USD to strengthen the capacity of ASEAN member nations in response to the pandemic.

As a new dialogue partner, the UK made a strong impression on ASEAN with the contribution of 69.4 million USD (50 million GBP), including 10.4 million USD (7.5 million GBP) for the COVID-19 ASEAN Response Fund./.