Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Khiem made the statement at a ceremony held in Hanoi on August 18 by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to launch a competition to design a logo for ASEAN 2010.

Mr Khiem added that the winning logo will be used in all mass media in the year 2010 when Vietnam will celebrate the 1000^th anniversary of Thang Long - Hanoi. He added that the logo should be simple, modern, highly artistic and easy to print or reproduce in all kinds of materials.

The focus of ASEAN 2010 will be on putting ASEAN Charter into practice, strengthening cooperation with non-ASEAN partners and hastening the construction of an ASEAN community based on with three pillars: political-security, economic and socio-cultural.