Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ishihara Charity Foundation of Taiwan has donated 140 thousand sets of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to Indonesia to help the Southeast Asian nation deal with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The assistance arrived here on Saturday after being picked up from its factory in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, by deploying the Indonesian Air Force's Hercules C130 aircraft, Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa, the coordinating minister for maritime affairs and investment’s deputy, noted in a statement here on Saturday.

Indonesia's Hercules C130 aircraft, with 13 crew members aboard, departed from the Halim Perdanakusumah Air Base in East Jakarta on Friday (Apr 24) morning to pick up the 140 thousand sets of PPE worth US$540 thousand and weighing 12,256 kilograms donated by Taiwan.

After a night at the Natuna Islands Air Base, the plane continued its journey to Jakarta on Saturday morning.

"In the face of the scarcity and difficulties encountered in obtaining PPE, whether in the form of clothing to protect against high-risk exposure, ordinary protective clothing, or also masks, we are yet able to get our hands on them and that too of the best quality. We also highly commend the Air Force for deploying the Hercules aircraft along with the crew to Phnom Penh to pick up this aid," he stated while also expressing his gratitude to the Taiwanese charity foundation for offering the donation.

The Ishihara Charity Foundation has provided Indonesia 15 ventilators, 140 thousand PPEs, 20 thousand face masks, and 300 thousand medical masks ordered from several countries, such as Cambodia and the Philippines, as well as from Taiwan itself.

The 15 ventilators were received on Monday (Apr 20). Related news: COVID-19: Riau's Chinese community donates 668 pieces of PPE
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Translator: Ade Irma J, Fardah
Editor: Suharto
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