Eight hospitals and healthcare centres gifted New Zealand fruit boxes during pandemic

New Zealand exporters to Vietnam donated the boxes to support COVID-19 patients and health staff during the pandemic

New Zealand Ambassador to Vietnam Tredene Dobson said the donation by six of New Zealand’s largest fresh produce exporters came from a real desire by New Zealand companies to show appreciation for the incredibly hard work that healthcare workers are doing right now and to provide a small amount of relief for patients.

“The New Zealand Embassy is pleased to show our support to Vietnam by assisting New Zealand exporters who, with current travel restrictions, are not able to travel to Vietnam but still want to contribute where they can by donating the highest quality fresh apples to the local communities they work with. These are very difficult times but through small gestures like this we can show the deep friendship between our two countries,” said Ambassador Dobson.

New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) Trade Commissioner and Consul-General to Vietnam, Joe Nelson, said NZTE is pleased to partner with New Zealand companies to help facilitate the donations.

“It’s been an honour to partner with New Zealand companies for such an important cause – Vietnam is an important export destination for many of our companies but more than that, we have a strong personal relationship with a number of our Vietnamese partners and we want to do whatever we can to help.”

Victor Anderson, country manager of T&G Global in Vietnam said the company is delighted to be part of this project. “We hope that our gesture can provide a small but meaningful and nutritious donation to the eight hospitals, their patients, and staff as they fight the current COVID-19 wave.”

This joint donation drive effort by the New Zealand Embassy and the NZTE was done in conjunction with the "Be Strong Vietnam Campaign” launched by Song Foundation, a Ho Chi Minh City-based non-profit organisation.

The donations have been made by Bostock Group, Freshmax Exports, Golden Bay Fruit, Scales Corporation, T&G Global, and Zespri International. Eight hospitals and healthcare centres receive the donations include Cu Chi Hospital, Cho Ray Hospital, Nhiet Doi Hospital, Thu Duc Hospital, and others.