Craft villages given a boost in Vietnam - Coconut Fibre Weaving, Bamboo, etc

[Stacey King]

 

Industrial promotion fund revitalises traditional handicraft villages

Farmers dry coconut fibre in Binh Dinh Province's Hoai Nhon District. The industrial promotion fund has helped to revitalise traditional villages in the province. — VNA/VNS Photo Cam Binh

BINH DINH — Industrial promotion programmes in the central province of Binh Dinh have helped revive many traditional craft villages that face closure, a trade official has said.

Nguyen Ba Tai, director of the province's Centre for Industrial Promotion, said that local traditional craft villages were flourishing and developing in a sustainable manner.

He cited the resurgence of the rush mat-weaving and fine arts village at the Hoai Chau Bac co-operative, as well as the coconut-fibre mat weaving and coconut-derived craft products in Hoai Nhon District's Tam Quan Nam Commune.

The Bau Da rice wine village in An Nhon District's Nhon Loc Commune and Ha Van Tren brocade-weaving village in Van Canh District's Canh Thuan Commune are two other successful craft villages.

He said the province was home to 38 craft villages certified by the provincial People's Committee, representing 70 per cent of the total number of villages planned for development in the province.

Some villages have created prestigious brands, such as Muoi Thu fish sauce, Bau Da rice wine and coconut-fibre weaving for export.

Tai said new traditional crafts had been created and training provided to offer jobs to rural labourers and to ensure that products sell.

This not only revived craft villages but also helped fully use all of the available raw materials in the communities, contributing to improving local livelihoods and reducing hunger and poverty, he added.

Industrial promotion programmes offered financial support for applied technical performance models and transferred production technology for tunnel bricks, using furnaces with an annual capacity of 5 million bricks.

This helped save investment costs, increase economic efficiency, and minimise environmental pollution.

The programmes' funding gave production facilities in craft villages access to consumption markets, raw materials and equipment supply, and progressive production models.

With VND2 billion (US$100,000) sourced from the central and local budget, the programmes would continue to support the training of new crafts this year like bamboo and rattan fine arts for export, and mother-of-pearl inlaying.

Nguyen Van Thang, deputy director of Binh Dinh Province's Department of Industry and Trade, said the province had more than 14,500 production facilities with 36,400 local labourers, generating an industrial production value of VND793 billion ($39.7 million) a year.

This contributed to restructuring the provincial rural economy in the direction of industry, small handicraft, and services, he added. — VNS