The country’s cooperation with ASEAN is an essential component of its government’s Indo-Pacific Guidelines, a press release from the German embassy in Hanoi said.

The ASEAN fund, established at the 37th ASEAN Summit last month, has received around $10 million so far. Vietnam has pledged $5 million, including medical equipment.

Other countries like Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand have pledged hundreds of millions of dollars.

Southeast Asia has recorded over one million cases of Covid-19. Indonesia currently has the highest number of coronavirus cases in the region, with over 620,000 infected and over 18,000 deaths. It is followed by the Philippines with over 450,000 infections and over 8,700 deaths.