Poland donates 501,000 AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses to Vietnam
The Polish Government has decided to offer more than 501,000 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, transfer an additional 3 million doses and donate medical supplies worth US$4 million to Vietnam.
At a reception for Polish Ambassador to Vietnam Wojciech Gerwel in Hanoi on August 17, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh thanked the Polish Government for its donation, while suggesting both nations increase meetings between their high-ranking leaders and between their ministries, sectors and localities via flexible forms.
The Vietnamese cabinet leader also asked the European nation to offer favourable conditions for Vietnamese products to enter its market.
He thanked and proposed the Polish Government continue helping Vietnamese expats in Poland stabilize their life, particularly amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
On bilateral relations, PM Pham Minh Chinh expressed his wish to promote the traditional relationship between the two countries. Poland has always been Vietnam's largest trading partner in Central and Eastern Europe for years. Despite being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, two-way trade turnover during the past 7 months of the year reached US$1.5 billion, up 34% over the same period from last year.
He asked the two sides to intensify measures to bolster effective cooperation in investment, official development assistance (ODA), defence, e-commerce, information technology, education - training, and culture.
In response, Gerwel affirmed that Vietnam is a priority partner of Poland in the region and is the first country outside Europe that has received COVID-19 vaccine and medical equipment aid from his nation.
The Polish diplomat applauded Vietnam’s COVID-19 prevention and control efforts in the past time and expressed his confidence that the Southeast Asian nation will roll back the pandemic soon.
During the meeting, the pair also discussed ways to further step up Vietnam-Poland cooperation at multilateral and regional forums. Regarding the East Sea issue, they underscored the importance of ensuring security, safety, freedom of navigation and aviation as well as the settlement of disputes by peaceful means on the basis of respect for international law in accordance with the UN Charter, and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
On this occasion, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh cordially invited the Polish Prime Minister to visit Vietnam. Gerwel also conveyed the invitation to visit Poland at an appropriate time from the Polish President and Prime Minister to their Vietnamese counterparts.
