Vietnamese Consul General in Frankfurt Lê Quang Long receives 130,000 test kits from President of the Hessen State Parliament Boris Rhein. Photo hessischer-landtag.de

BERLIN – Hessen state and the Messer Group GmbH of Germany on Thursday presented 160,000 rapid COVID-19 test kits worth 500,000 EUR (US$590,300) to help Việt Nam in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

During a handover ceremony held in Hessen state, Vietnamese Consul General in Frankfurt, Lê Quang Long, received 130,000 test kits from President of the Hessen State Parliament, Boris Rhein, and another 30,000 test kits from CEO of the Messer Group, Stefan Messer.

Long said he believes that with the Vietnamese Government’s stringent and effective policies in battling the pandemic, along with the consensus and support of the Vietnamese people and international friends, the country will soon bring the current COVID-19 outbreak under control.

Rhein highlighted Hessen state’s historical friendship with Việt Nam, with the Việt Nam-Germany University (VGU) viewed as a lighthouse project of the two sides. He said both sides have helped each other through times of hardship.

When Germany faced a scarcity in face masks in early 2020, the Vietnamese people promptly presented more than 100,000 masks to the European country, he recalled.

Rhein took the occasion to express his gratitude to Dr. Kambiz Ghawami, Executive Chairman of the World University Service (WUS) non-governmental organisation, for facilitating the donation, and national flag carrier, Vietnam Airlines, for transporting the assistance to Vietnam free of charge.

The Messer Group, specialising in industrial gases, has operated in Vietnam for nearly 25 years, with six plants and two others in the pipeline.

Ghawami previously called on all 16 German states to support Việt Nam to combat COVID-19. The first batch of aid containing over 190,000 test kits from the states of Bremen, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Sachsen-Anhalt arrived in Việt Nam in late June. VNS