The organizing board said two additional contestants named Nguyen Pham Bao Quynh of Hungary and Le Thi Thanh Truc of Australia qualifed for the semi-final round by winning prizes in other international beauty pageants.

Contestants will be in Hanoi from July 17-21 and in HCM City from July 23-27 to attend training courses on make-up, performance, communication, elocution, and knowledge of culture, art and traditional customs.

Thirty contestants will be selected to attend the final round to be held in Nha Trang City in August.  

The pageant’s board received approximately 1,000 entries in the two months after the contest was announced. More than 80 percent of the contestants are students from universities and colleges nationwide.