VNA - The Foreign Ministry has called upon diplomats at home and abroad to vote Ha Long Bay as one of new world wonders.

The Director of the External Cultural and UNESCO Department under the ministry, Pham Sanh Chau, asked overseas Vietnamese and foreign friends to support Ha Long Bay at a campaign launching ceremony in Hanoi on April 16.

Ha Long Bay is officially a contender in the second phase of the New 7 Wonders of Nature. The votes by the diplomats, Vietnamese community abroad and foreign friends will help Ha Long Bay enter the third round of the selection, Chau said.

The voting for seven new world wonders on the Website www.new7wonders.com, launched by the NewOpenWorld, has entered the second phase, lasting from Jan. 7 to July 7, 2009, where 261 sites of seven groups will vie to make it into the top 77.

By April 15, Ha Long Bay placed third out of 25 sites in the group G of sea sights.

Recently, the Embassy of the Republic of Korea, Kumho group and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism have opened a showroom at the Hanoi Daewoo Hotel to promote the image of Ha Long Bay in support for its race to become one of seven new world wonders./.