Kathmandu : Nepali Army Headquarters (NAHQ) has inked 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.
With the formal agreement reached between the NA and the Corporation officials on April 19, within a week the NA is importing its first lot of very essential and prioritised medical equipment from chartered flights of Nepal Airlines and Shree Airlines.
NA said that the total weight of the purchased medical goods is 342 tonnes, and the goods will be brought in a phase-wise and priority basis, as all the purchased goods cannot be brought collectively, Brigadier General and Army Headquarters spokesperson Bigyan Dev Pandey told journalists at a video teleconference system from the Army Headquarters.
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.
The payment for the goods was made to the Company from Nepal Rastra Bank under the consent of the Ministry of Finance and as per the terms of condition the payment for the goods should have been delivered to the Company within two days of the agreement, according to the Army.
