Vietnam Red Cross donates medical supplies to Cambodia hinh anh 1Vietnamese Ambassador to Cambodia Vu Quang Minh (centre, left) hands over the medical aids from the Vietnam Red Cross Society to the Cambodian Red Cross (CRC) Society in Phnom Penh on April 29. (Photo: VNA)

Phnom Penh (VNA) - The Vietnam Red Cross Society (VRC) has donated 60,000 medical masks and 300 sets of personal protective equipment (PPE) to its Cambodian counterpart to help the Cambodian people fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

The donation was handed over by Vietnamese Ambassador to Cambodia Vu Quang Minh to the Cambodian Red Cross (CRC) Society in Phnom Penh on the morning of April 29.

Speaking at the handover ceremony, head of the CRC’s Financial Committee Ouk Maly expressed her deep gratitude for the aid, adding that the medical supplies will be distributed to hospitals around Cambodia.

She spoke highly of relations between the Red Cross Societies of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, particularly given the three have signed an agreement to enhance the exchange of experience and expand cooperation.

She went on to say that the CRC has also received donations from many Vietnamese enterprises in Cambodia to assist the country’s COVID-19 relief efforts, for example the Bank for Investment and Development of Cambodia, a subsidy of the Vietnam-based BIDV, and Viettel’s Metfone.

The donations, including rice, hand sanitiser, medical masks, and soap, have been given to people throughout Cambodia, she said.

She expressed her appreciation towards the VRC and Vietnamese people at large for sharing with and supporting Cambodia in times of difficulty, preserving long-standing ties between the two countries' people.

Ambassador Minh, for his part, said he is proud to see many Vietnamese firms contributing to the CRC’s efforts. He also took the occasion to thank the CRC for providing regular assistance to Vietnamese-born Cambodians facing difficulties, particularly those hurt by the pandemic.

On April 8, on behalf of the Vietnamese Government, he presented medical supplies worth 7 billion VND (298,200 USD) to the Cambodian Government and people to aid their fight against COVID-19. The aid included PPE, medical and anti-bacterial masks, and coronavirus testing kits./.

VNA