The event drew Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem, members of the Hanoi-based foreign diplomatic corps, local leaders and executives from leading companies as a gesture of keen in this issue.

Opening the ceremony, Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Van Tho said the campaign to promote Ha Long Bay will make the world natural heritage site widely known among the international community, along with the country’s cultural and traditions.

He called upon each and every Vietnamese, either at home or abroad, to cast votes on Ha Long Bay as a world natural wonder.

He noted that the Ha Long Campaigning board has sent either people or letters to a large number of agencies and domestic and foreign organizations to call for concerted efforts nationwide to vote for the site’s title.

The ceremony was marked with the auction of a 6-litre Hennesy Mathusalem bottle in a special, impressive design. The final hammer beat at a EUR25,000 offer made by Tan Tao group CEO Dang Thanh Tam has added the amount to the campaigning board’s budget.