EXPO 2020 Dubai honours Ha Long Bay as a new wonder of the world

The Ha Long Bay Week at EXPO 2020 Dubai was officially opened on February 12 with many special activities to promote and honour the UNESCO's World Natural Heritage.

Vietnamese Ambassador to the UAE Nguyen Manh Tuan speaks at the ceremony honouring the Ha Long Bay – a UNESCO World Natural Heritage – at the Expo 2020 Dubai. (Photo: VGP/Diep Anh).
Vietnamese Ambassador to the UAE Nguyen Manh Tuan speaks at the ceremony honouring the Ha Long Bay – a UNESCO World Natural Heritage – at the Expo 2020 Dubai. (Photo: VGP/Diep Anh).

The two highlights of Ha Long Bay Week are the honouring event held at the Vietnam Pavilion and the art performance programme of six countries on EXPO 2020 biggest outdoor stage.

Speaking at the event, Ambassador Nguyen Manh Tuan emphasised that, as one of the most important and well-known Vietnamese heritage sites, Ha Long Bay possesses a majestic landscape with thousands of large and small islands and a system of caves. It is an interesting destination, containing many important vestiges in the formation and development of earth's history, and is also the cradle of the ancient Vietnamese people.

Ha Long Bay is also home to a high concentration of biodiversity with typical ecosystems and thousands of diverse and abundant plant and animal species. In addition, this place is also associated with many cultural values within the heroic history of the Vietnamese nation.

Also at the ceremony, Ambassador Nguyen Manh Tuan and the delegates witnessed the Ha Long Bay marker unveiling ceremony – a special guidepost with signs recording the distance from Dubai City, where EXPO 2020 Dubai is held, to places on the list of 7 new natural wonders of the world. In which Ha Long Bay is designed with outstanding colours.

Another big event that is highly anticipated during Ha Long Bay Week is the art show took place on the same afternoon at Jubilee stage, EXPO 2020.

Vietnamese artists perform with the background of Ha Long Bay. Photo: (The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism)

In the context that Vietnam is making efforts to promote and attract international visitors to restore the tourism industry after more than two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ha Long Bay Week at EXPO 2020 Dubai is an event with many important meanings.

The week also shows the initiative and creativity of the Vietnam Exhibitor in connecting countries with wonders, contributing more colours to the overall success of Expo 2020, while enhancing the promotion of Vietnam's art and cuisine, and bringing the reputation of Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay to the international public.