Nepali Army Headquarters (NAHQ) has signed an agreement with China Sino-Farm International Corporation, China’s state-owned company for the procurement of medical equipment and kits to be used in the diagnosis and treatment of coronavirus infected people in Nepal.

Brigadier General and Army Headquarters spokesperson Bigyan Dev Pandey said that the total weight of the purchased medical goods is 342 tonnes. Spokesperson Pande at a video teleconference from the Army Headquarters said that the total cost of purchased goods is Rs 2.25 billion (184 million USD) which include 67 items. There will be over 200,000 pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE), according to the Headquarters.

In one chartered flight, the wide-body of Nepal Airlines can carry only 18-20 tons of goods, so there is a need to conduct at least 18 to 19 chartered flights to bring all 342 tons of goods," he said.

To reduce the cost of the chartered flights, the NA has also been planning to bring the medical items via Tatopani dry port, added Pandey.

Authority from China Sino-Farm International Corporation and Adjutant General and Master General of Ordinance (MGO) Prabhuram Sharma of Nepali Army signed the agreement from two sides.

China Sino-Farm International Corporation is the state-owned company that is undertaken by the Ministry of Commerce of China, according to Brigadier General Pandey.

“The national requirement of the medical goods of 67 items was finalised by the Logistic Operation under the COVID-19 Crisis Management Centre (CCMC-Operation), “ said Pandey, who is also the Director at the Directorate of Public Relations and Information (DPR&I) at the Army Headquarters.

The goods were purchased under certification of National Medical Product Administration (NMPA) of China for ensuring the quality of the goods, according to Pandey. NMPA is a quality assurance certification ensured by the government of China before its export abroad.

In the context of purchasing 56 types of medicines from India under G2G, Brigadier General Pandey said that the procedure has been moving ahead and letter of acceptance has been sent to India.