(MOFA) - On 14 May 2020, at the regular press conference of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, responding to a request for confirmation of Viet Nam's recent phone calls with India, the US, the ROK, Japan, New Zealand and Australia to discuss post-Covid-19 economic cooperation and recovery, the Ministry Spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang said:

The Covid-19 pandemic has been developing in a very complicated manner all over the world and caused severe adverse impacts on most countries. As a responsible member of the international community wishing to contribute to the common efforts to repel the pandemic, Viet Nam has been actively collaborating with other countries, regional organizations - particularly ASEAN - and UN organs. We are also engaging in many mechanisms for exchange under various forms and at different levels such as regional and international meetings and bilateral or multilateral phone calls by high-level leaders, the minister and deputy ministers.

In this spirit, recently, there have been informal phone calls between Viet Nam and the US, Japan, ROK, India, Australia and New Zealand. In these discussions, Viet Nam and these countries exchanged updates on the situation of the pandemic in their respective countries, the region and the world. We also shared experience and measures to combat the pandemic and discussed effective measures to cooperate in the protection of citizens, the provision of medical equipment, the coordination of humanitarian aids, the maintenance of transport and commerce, and the facilitation of post-Covid economic reopening and recovery.

Viet Nam firmly believes that via these mechanisms for cooperation and exchange, including phone calls, and in a constructive and responsible spirit, countries and the international community will soon be able to control and repel the pandemic, and in stages begin to restart their social and economic development./.