Vietnamese candidate Anna Hoàng has won second place at Miss Eco Teen International 2023. Photo courtesy of Miss Eco Teen

HÀ NỘI Anna Hoàng, 14-year-old candidate from Việt Nam, has won second place at Miss Eco Teen International 2023 and the Audience's Favourite Contestant Award of the beauty pageant.

This is one of the world's prestigious competitions for teenagers globally, established by Dr. Amaal Rezk in 2019. Dr. Rezk is also a Special-Adviser-Envoy of the charitable organisation IIMSAM and Youth Goodwill Ambassador under the United Nations.

Miss Eco Teen International 2023 emphasises the spirit of teamwork, collaboration and innovative solutions to protect the environment by the global youth generation.

This year’s event features 19 representatives from countries such as South Africa, the Philippines, Russia, the US, China and the host country, Egypt.

The Grand Finale included several rounds - National Costume, Group Dance Performance, National Introduction, Evening Gown, and the selection of the Top 11 for the Q&A. The Top 5 finalists, consisting of one winner and 4 runners-up, were selected from the results of the Q&A round.

Joining Miss Eco Teen International 2023, Anna was directly trained by experts from the entertainment company Bell Love, the organisation that holds the rights to the competition in Việt Nam, and especially Bella Vũ, who won the Miss Eco Teen International title in 2021.

Her performance during seven days of the beauty pageant, particularly in the Evening Gown and Q&A rounds, received high scores from the judges, allowing her to surpass other competitors in the Top 11 and achieve the title of First Runner-up.

South African representative Enhle Mdakane was crowned as Miss Eco Teen International 2023, while the second, third and fourth runner-up titles went to candidates from Indonesia, Netherlands and China, respectively.

Anna Hoàng (second from left) is pictured with the winner and other runners-up of Miss Eco Teen International 2023. Photo courtesy of Miss Eco Teen

"I want to express my gratitude and honour at achieving the position of First Runner-up in the Miss Eco Teen International 2023 competition. I am thrilled to represent my country, Việt Nam, and make a difference in our world with this title,” said Anna.

“Winning the title is unbelievable for me. I will not let my title go to waste, and I will fulfil all the commitments I have made to support our environment and promote my ongoing support for the Miss Eco Teen International competition throughout this year and in the years to come.

“The contest lasted for about a week, and each day was filled with numerous activities. For example, we learned a special dance for the performance in the grand finale, planted trees along the streets in Egypt and collected waste along the beach. The Miss Eco Teen is a wonderful opportunity to build friendships and a platform to promote what we support,” she added.

Anna Hoàng (right) joins the activity of planting trees in Egypt within Miss Eco Teen International 2023. Photo courtesy of Miss Eco Teen

Anna Hoàng was born in 2009 in the UK. Despite being born and raised abroad, Anna and her siblings have always been taught about Vietnamese cultural values by their parents, while also embracing the education and culture of their host country.

At the age of seven, she won the title of Little Miss Asia, and was featured in many fashion magazines and particularly, London Fashion Week.

She was the co-founder of children's áo dài (traditional Vietnamese dress) design brand in 2019 and the establisher of the Anna Foundation.

Before entering Miss Eco Teen International 2023, Anna received the National External Information Initiative Award for her initiative I Love Áo Dài, I Love Vietnam. This project celebrated the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Việt Nam and the United Kingdom. VNS