The logo was designed by a Vietnameseyoung artist Tran Giang Nam, who won the logo design competitionlaunched by the New Zealand Embassy. It beat 500 other entries.
Nam took on the traditional greetings of Maori people in New Zealandwith two noses touching each other and combined it with the twocountries’ flags and Vietnamese national flower of lotus to convey thefriendship between Vietnam and New Zealand.
According to NewZealand Ambassador to Vietnam, Haike Manning, the winning logodemonstrates the robust and long-term bilateral friendship between thetwo countries.
The special 40-year-relations celebration,themed ‘New Zealand – Open to the New’, will start on February 5, 2015,followed by a series of events and projects taking place throughout theyear.-VNA