Under the platform, China proposed establishing Covid-19 emergency medical facility, poverty alleviation, and e-commerce in rural areas.
The medical facility will store various medical equipment, including vaccines. Dhaka emphasised on the provision of medical-grade oxygen and vaccines since Covid-19 is an emergency at the moment.
When asked about the location of the medical facility, Momen said it was not fixed yet. However, Dhaka has proposed to set it up close to the sea so that the member countries can get it at the quickest possible time, in any case of emergency.
China wants to set up a Poverty Alleviation Centre and share their experiences of poverty reduction with South Asia as millions of people may be pushed on the fringe due to the pandemic.
Due to vaccine shortage, the government suspended administering the first doses from April 26.
However, the emergency authorisation of Sputnik V means there is no bar to importing and administering the vaccine in Bangladesh. Health officials said they can resume the first dose of vaccination once they get the Russian vaccine. The government will now bring the Russian Covid-19 vaccine to the country and it can be administered. Russia will give us 40 lakh doses in May and June, Maj Gen Mahbubur Rahman, director general of Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA), told The Daily Star.
He said Sputnik V will be administered as the first dose.
Chinese defense minister due tomorrow
Diplomatic Correspondent
Diplomatic Correspondent
Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister Wei Fenghe is scheduled to arrive in Dhaka on a brief visit tomorrow, officials confirmed.
During his visit, he is scheduled to meet President Abdul Hamid and Bangladesh Chief of Army Staff General Aziz Ahmed.
A foreign ministry official told The Daily Star, He will be visiting Dhaka on the occasion of the golden jubilee of Bangladesh s independence and birth centenary of Bangabandhu.
Asked if there is any agenda on military cooperation with China, the official said he was not aware of it.
The visit of Wei Fenghe, who will also visit Sri Lanka after the Dhaka visit the same day, comes at a time when Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will virtually host a ministerial meeting with South Asian leaders of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka under a new initiative of China-South Asia Covid Cooperation and Post-pandemic Economic R
Press highlights collaboration between Ghana, Singapore on SMEs promotion, others Ghana-Press-Review April 23, 2021 to 10:52 78 APA – Accra (Ghana) The report of the collaboration between the Bank of Ghana and the Monetary Authority of Singapore to develop a programme to promote the growth of Small and Medium-Scale Enterprises in the country is one of the trending stories in the Ghanaian press on Friday.
The Times reports that the Second Deputy Governor, Dr. Maxwell Opoku-Afari, has said that the Bank of Ghana (BoG) is collaborating with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to develop a programme to promote the growth of Small and Medium-Scale Enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana.
China has initiated a new platform for South Asia focusing on Covid cooperation and post-pandemic economic recovery as the region faces severe vaccine shortage amid rising cases of coronavirus that s pushing millions of people into poverty, officials said.
As part of the initiative called China-South Asia Platform for Covid-19 Consultation, Cooperation, and Post-pandemic Economic Recovery , China has proposed three components Medical Equipment Storage, Poverty Alleviation, and E-commerce. As per the initial proposal, the medical equipment store will be a facility where China will have different Covid-related equipment, medicine, and even vaccine. The countries joining the platform can avail the medicine or equipment in the case of emergency, said a foreign ministry official.