New Zealand embassy opens free supermarket in Hanoi industrial park

At the supermarket in Dong Anh District, a person is allowed to pick up for free essentials like rice, eggs, cereals, vegetables, instant noodles, face masks, and sanitizers worth up to VND200,000 ($8.6).

The supermarket has been set up by the embassy in collaboration with the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour and the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Vietnam, according to a release from the embassy.

New Zealand ambassador Wendy Matthews said at the opening ceremony the project shows the unity between New Zealand and Vietnam. She said the supermarrket is a great idea to help reducing the economic effects caused by the pandemic for workers at the park and their families.

New Zealand and Vietnam celebrate the 45th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations this year. In recent years their ties have developed strongly and steadily across diverse fields, from political aspects to trade, investment and education.

In the year to the end of March, bilateral trade turnover hit nearly $1.1 billion, up 12 percent year-on-year.

Covid-19 has spread to more than 210 countries and territories, infecting more than 8.7 million people and killing over 462,000.

Both New Zealand and Vietnam have been praised as role models in the fight against this pandemic. Vietnam has had 349 cases and zero deaths, while New Zealand has reported 1,161 cases and 22 deaths.