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PETALING JAYA: Malaysia and China have signed an agreement to deepen cooperation on the development and accessibility of a Covid-19 vaccine.
The agreement, which was virtually signed by Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Khairy Jamaluddin and his Chinese counterpart Wang Zhigang on Wednesday (November 18), aims to forge greater collaboration between the two countries to combat the pandemic.
The agreement will be put into operation under the supervision of a high-level committee that will be chaired by Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, as agreed on October 13 this year.
The Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation said that Khairy and Wang had agreed to increase collaboration to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic through scientific diplomacy.
“The agreement provides for Malaysia to have priority access to the Covid-19 vaccines developed by China, the exchange of knowledge and experience, as well as facilitating the scientific and technological capacities to advance the development of vaccines in both countries.
“Both countries will also support the participation of their public and private sectors, including universities, institutions, societies and organizations in joint collaborative projects,” they said in a joint statement on Wednesday.
They added that both governments agreed to support and encourage their companies to establish comprehensive cooperation in vaccine research and development, as well as supply.
The agreement was to remain in force for an initial period of five years and would be automatically extended for another year each time by mutual agreement of both parties.
“A big step forward for Malaysia-China relations in the post-pandemic era. The priority of vaccines, along with other bilateral economic, social and cultural issues, is part of a broader framework under the high-level committee. co-chaired by Foreign Minister Wang Yi, “Hishammuddin said in a tweet.
Khairy, who tweeted about the signing of the bilateral agreement, also said that he had discussed a mutually accepted blockchain-enabled digital health passport to facilitate a travel corridor for vaccinated citizens of both countries.
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