KUALA LUMPUR: A bulk of essential medical items donated to Malaysia by the Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Foundation to help mitigate diminishing supplies in the country, arrived at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) today.
The National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) has been entrusted to distribute the supplies consisting of face masks, test kits, protective suits and face shields nationwide.
Nadma deputy director general Datuk Khairul Shahril Idrus acknowledged receipt of the contribution from the two foundations, which in the arrangement were represented by Lazada Malaysia CEO Leo Chow.
In a statement, the foundations said the shipment was part of a wider donation initiative they had pledged on March 19 to four Southeast Asian countries - Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines.
“The four nations will collectively receive a total of two million face masks, kits for testing 150,000 people, 20,000 protective suits and 20,000 face shields,” they said.
Meanwhile, Electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP), an initiative created by Alibaba aimed at removing or reducing barriers faced by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in their online global trade, is involved in facilitating the distribution of the Covid-19 relief supplies.
Its secretary general, James Song, said, “Despite the challenge in the transportation of the medical supplies due to the pandemic, we leveraged the strength of the eWTP hub to get it done as fast as we could.”
The donation is among a number of Alibaba Foundation and Jack Ma Foundation’s aid initiatives to support areas of the world that are most affected by the Covid-19 crisis.
The initiatives include sourcing and delivering various types of medical supplies to China, Southeast Asia, United States, Africa, Italy, Belgium, France, Slovenia, Spain and Latin America.
On top of that, the foundations are also funding research and development of Covid-19 treatment options in China and at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity (Australia) and Columbia University (United States). - Bernama
