The Royal New Zealand Air Force provided the wero, or traditional Māori challenge – plus the Guard of Honour.
Presenting their letters of credence to His Excellency The Right Honourable Sir Anand Satyanand, GNZM, QSO were:
The new Ambassador of Viet Nam, HE Mr Nguyen Hong Cuong, a career diplomat who has spent the past six years as Director-General of the ASEAN Department of Viet Nam’s Foreign Ministry. Ambassador Nguyen has held previous appointments at Vietnamese embassies in Thailand, Indonesia and Australia, and will reside in Wellington.
HE Mr Fernando Escalona, the new Ambassador of Argentina will also reside in Wellington. Ambassador Escalona is a career diplomat with previous postings to India, China Ecuador and South Africa, and has most recently served as a First Minister and in the General Directorate of Environmental Affairs in Buenos Aires.
Having most recently served in Algiers as an adviser in his Foreign Minister’s office, HE Mr Hadi Brouri, Ambassador of Algeria, has also previously been Ambassador of Algeria to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Kinshasa) and Consul-General in Istanbul. He is concurrently Ambassador of Algeria to Australia, and will be resident in Canberra.
The new Ambassador of El Salvador, HE Mr Hector Gonzalez, holds a PhD in Economics from Utah University, and has previously worked as an economist in the Central American Bank for Economic Integration and the Central Bank and Economy Ministry of El Salvador. Ambassador Gonzalez will be resident in Seoul.
Photos from the ceremony are available here.