Jack Ma gives 3 lakh masks to Bangladesh

Jack Ma, one of the richest persons in Asia and founder of Alibaba, yesterday sent 3 lakh masks to Bangladesh.

A special flight carrying the items landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) at 2:55pm from China, said SN Wahidur Rahman, deputy director of HSIA, told The Daily Star.

Yan Hualong, deputy chief of mission at the Chinese Embassy in Dhaka, among others, was present to hand over the masks to Bangladesh government officials.

On March 26, China donated medical supplies, including 10,000 testing kits, 10,000 PPE and 1,000 infrared thermometers to help Bangladesh fight the coronavirus outbreak.

The next day, Jack Ma donated 30,000 testing kits to Bangladesh. Jack Ma on March 21 announced that his firm, through the Alibaba Foundation, would donate emergency supplies to 10 Asian countries.

The firm will donate 1.8 million masks, 210,000 testing kits, 36,000 protective suits, ventilators and thermometers to Bangladesh, Cambodia, Laos, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka.

In his twitter account, Jack Ma wrote: "Go Asia! We will donate emergency supplies (1.8M masks, 210K test kits, 36K protective suits, plus ventilators & thermometers) to Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Laos, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan & Sri Lanka. Delivering fast is not easy, but we'll get it done!"