Sir Don to travel to Viet Nam as special envoy

Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced.

"It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations," Mr Peters says.

"It is for that reason that we invited Sir Don to travel to Ha Noi this week as our Special Envoy to attend the General Secretary's funeral. His attendance is a demonstration of the deep respect that New Zealand has for the Vietnamese people and its government."

Sir Don was Deputy Prime Minister from 1990-1996, Foreign Minister from 1990-1999 and Commonwealth Secretary-General from 2000-2008. Sir Don leaves New Zealand today and will return this weekend.