The handing over ceremony was attended by Ambassador of Vietnam and current chair of ASEAN Dhaka Committee Pham Viet Chien; outgoing chair and Ambassador of Thailand Arunrung Phothong Humphreys and upcoming chair, High Commissioner of Brunei Darussalam, Haji Haris bin Othman.  

While receiving the materials including PPE and a ventilator, Foreign Secretary Momen thanked the ASEAN Dhaka Committee for their noble gesture. 

Momen said that because of geographical, historical and cultural proximity to each other, people from Bangladesh and the ASEAN countries closely inter-mingle with each other. 

He said that ASEAN countries are gaining importance because of increasing trade, investment, overseas employment and higher studies. 

Momen thanked the ASEAN governments for extending support to the Bangladesh diaspora during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

He noted that when all international flights were suspended due to COVID-19, a good number of flights were operated between Bangladesh and the South East Asian capitals.   

On behalf of the ASEAN troika, the Thai Ambassador spoke on the occasion. She appreciated the various measures taken by the Government of Bangladesh to combat COVID-19 and hoped that COVID-19 vaccine would soon be available to the global community.

She said that the depth of Bangladesh’s ties with the ASEAN countries could not be measured by the token items donated today but the bondage is much stronger, she stated.  

ASEAN stands ready to support Bangladesh in any natural calamity or difficulty.  

On behalf of the Vietnam Community in Bangladesh and the Vietnam Embassy, Ambassador Pham Viet Chien also separately handed over some surgical masks to the Foreign Secretary. 

The items were handed over the representative of the Central Police Hospital, Dhaka. 

Additional Foreign Secretary and COVID-19 Coordinator of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dr Khalilur Rahman was also present at the handing over ceremony.