Ho Chi Minh City, a COVID-19 hotspot in Viet Nam, received medical supplies from the Government of Cambodia to help them overcome the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The shipment, which arrived on 19 July, comprises of 1 million medical face masks, 100,000 N95 face masks, 100 five-liter oxygen generators and cash worth $200,000. Writing to Prime Minister Hun Sen, Viet Nam Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh expressed his gratitude for the assistance, and emphasized that the donation is evidence of close friendship, solidarity and noble tradition of mutual support between the two nations

The second Mekong-U.S. Partnership Ministerial Meeting held on 2 August 2021 unveiled four flagship projects under the Mekong-U.S. Partnership, and noted the 8.5 million vaccine doses and over $58 million in U.S. COVID-19 assistance to the Mekong subregion countries.

A six-year, pioneering regional technical assistance initiative has boosted the capacity of health systems in Cambodia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), and Viet Nam to respond to climate-induced health threats amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced today.

This brochure provides an overview of how ADB is assisting its developing member countries in Southeast Asia to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cambodia’s Ministry of Tourism (MOT) and key tourism stakeholders from the country’s private sector, including the Cambodian Association of Travel Agents, the Cambodian Tourism Federation, the Cambodian Restaurants Association, the Cambodia Hotel Association, and the Pacific-Asia Travel Association, held a meeting on 2 June to discuss plans to open the country to vaccinated tourists traveling on package tours as early as October. Tourism brings in around 32.7% share of Cambodia’s gross domestic product. 

The Asian Development Bank and the Nossal Institute for Global Health hosted a virtual meeting titled, “One Health in the Greater Mekong Subregion: Where are we now and where next?” on 3 June 2021 to share lessons learned in the use of multisectoral One Health approaches and priority actions identified under the TA 9571-REG:  Strengthening Regional Health Cooperation in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS). 

Viet Nam will provide the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) $500,000 in urgent aid to support the country in overcoming the resurgence of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).  

The Asian Development Bank, in partnership with the Nossal Institute for Global Health at the University of Melbourne, is organizing a virtual Greater Mekong Subregion meeting entitled, “One Health in the GMS: Where are we now and where next?” on 3 June 2021 via video conferencing.  

Southeast Asian countries can benefit from investments in green infrastructure, digital transformation, big data, and revenue mobilization through tax reform as the region recovers from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, said Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Masatsugu Asakawa at the second Southeast Asia Development Symposium.

This publication provides guidance for governments and other stakeholders in developing Asia to effectively communicate about the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic to the public.