The Vietnamese government on April 1 handed over US$200,000 to Cambodia to help this country fight the novel coronavirus.

The grant was presented to the Embassy of Cambodia in Vietnam.

At the handover ceremony, Deputy Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung emphasized that Vietnam and Cambodia have close relations and a tradition of supporting each other in difficulties.

He ceremonially gave the money to Cambodian ambassador in Vietnam Chay Navuth, saying Vietnam hopes the support would help Cambodia curb the pandemic, stabilize the situation and recover economically.

"Although the gift is not of high value and far from meeting the actual needs of the pandemic prevention in Cambodia, I believe it is meaningful at this difficult time of the ravaging pandemic," Dung said.

He also thanked the Cambodian government for its attention to the Vietnamese community in the country and appreciated that Cambodia has vaccinated for foreign diplomatic staff, including officials and employees of Vietnamese representative missions in Cambodia.

The Vietnamese government hands over US$200,000 to Cambodia. Photo: Kinhtedothi.vn

For his part, Cambodian Ambassador to Vietnam Chay Navuth praised the Vietnamese government for promptly applying necessary measures to curb the pandemic spread.

It can be said that Vietnam is currently among the leading countries in containing the Covid-19 pandemic, the ambassador said.

On behalf of the authorities and people of Cambodia, Chay Navuth expressed his sincere thanks to Vietnam’s meaningful gift.

This is the second assistance that Vietnam has given to Cambodia to help this country fight the Covid-19 epidemic. Last April, the Vietnamese government supported Cambodia with medical equipment including protective clothing, medical masks, antibacterial masks and Covid-19 test kit.

In a talk with Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen on March 26, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said that Vietnam is willing to send medical experts to support Cambodia’s Covid-19 combat.

PM Phuc spoke highly of the efforts made by the Cambodian government in rolling out preventive measures, affirming Vietnam stands ready to assist and work side by side with Cambodia in the fight against the pandemic in order to soon stabilize situation in each country.

PM Hun Sen highly valued Vietnam’s measures to contain the pandemic and extended thanks for the Vietnamese government’s responses to his country’s requests. He stressed that the royal government and people of Cambodia have always regarded the Vietnamese in Cambodia as the locals.

Cambodia is confirming 86 new infections on average each day and 2,477 infections and 14 coronavirus-related deaths have been reported in the country since the pandemic began.