Malaysia to share findings on COVID-19 cure with ASEAN and plus three partners

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin at the ASEAN Plus Three Summit (Bernama)

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will share its findings with experts and scientists from ASEAN and the Plus Three partners – China, Japan and South Korea – to jointly pursue efforts in search of a vaccine for COVID-19, said Prime Minister  Muhyiddin Yassin.

In a Special ASEAN Plus Three Summit on COVID-19 conducted via video conference today, he said Malaysia was amongst the first countries to work with the World Health Organisation (WHO) for the ‘Solidarity Trial’ research project in finding a potential cure for the pandemic.

“This involvement in a globally coordinated trial allows us to collect data, compare safety and effectiveness of treatment protocols using different drug combinations,” he said.

Meanwhile, Muhyiddin said it was imperative that the Plus Three partners worked closely with ASEAN to ensure the Asia Pacific as a region recovers from the crisis together.

“For example, we can learn from China regarding movement restrictions they have imposed in their provinces and what they have done after lifting these restrictions.

“For Malaysia’s part, China has been with us from the very beginning, and we sincerely appreciate the assistance rendered by China for Malaysia in our time in need thus far. On behalf of the Malaysian people, we would like to thank China for all they have done for us in facing the COVID-19 pandemic.

“With Japan, we can learn how they have managed to implement the largest stimulus package in the Asia Pacific and how we as nations in ASEAN can extract what works for our nations and with ROK, their solutions for mass-testing will be very useful for us in ASEAN to learn from and implement in our nations,” he added.

Muhyiddin said for now, Malaysia is of the view that all must remain committed to keep the markets open, maintain normal flows of trade, services and investment to strengthen regional economic resilience without unnecessary barriers to trade or disruption to global supply chains.

The nations, he said, must stabilise the manufacturing and supply of essential goods and services required for the crisis, including vital medical supplies and critical agricultural products – all while sustaining and diversifying supply chain connectivity within the region and beyond.

“Malaysia is confident that with our continued and collective capabilities in fighting COVID-19, we can and will overcome this together. Interdependence and unity is the order of the day and no nation can go successfully manoeuvre through this crisis alone.

“Our resilience to COVID-19 is only as strong as our weakest link and we must expand the scope of our cooperation with solidarity, vision and leadership. ASEAN is determined to get through this as a block of 10 nations, and we in Malaysia would like our Plus Three partners to come onboard with ASEAN and join our endeavours for a better and brighter future for our people,” he said.

Earlier, Muhyiddin shared Malaysia’s own experiences and knowledge in facing the COVID-19 pandemic during the Special ASEAN Summit on COVID-19 conducted via video-teleconferencing. The virtual summit was chaired by Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and joined by other ASEAN leaders.

BERNAMA