Vietnamese Ambassador to the US Hà Kim Ngọc. Photo cafef.vn

HÀ NỘI — The US highly evaluates efforts made by the Vietnamese Government in the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, describing them as drastic, transparent and effective.

The US is considering the import of some medical supplies and equipment from Việt Nam to serve epidemic prevention in the US.

In an interview on the co-operation between the two countries in the fight against the pandemic, Vietnamese Ambassador to the US Hà Kim Ngọc said Việt Nam-US cooperation in response to the COVID-19 outbreak has witnessed many positive results.

Since the end of January, the health agencies and experts of the two countries have exchanged information and data to deal with the disease. 

The Vietnamese Embassy has established a regular exchange channel with the Department of Health and the US’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The US is considering the import of some medical supplies and equipment from Việt Nam. These are products that Việt Nam has sufficient production capacity to serve domestic health and export, contributing to the joint efforts of the international community in the prevention of the pandemic.

This will create more opportunities for Vietnamese businesses to access and boost exports to the US market, Ngọc said.

Recently, the US Government has announced the Emergency Reserve Fund for Contagious Infectious Diseases at the US Agency for International Development (USAID) would allocate the assistance loan of US$37 million to help countries in the region in the fight against the pandemic, including Việt Nam.

From the multilateral perspective, the US said it highly appreciated Việt Nam's role as the ASEAN Chair in 2020. It would discuss with Việt Nam and other ASEAN members to promote ASEAN-US cooperation on health issues and the prevention of the spread of the COVID-19. — VNS