Hanoi (VNA) – Craft villages of Vietnam are mostly small scale, and need to foster linkages in production to be more ♉competitive in both domestic and international markets, according to experts.

According to a report on handicraft and craft village development by the Agency for Regional Industry and Trade under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), many craft villages have yet to design their own product development strategy, and have yet to be able to build their trademark. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, as of 2020, Vietnam had 165 traditional craft villages, along with 1,951 craft villages, including 1,656 industrial and handicraft villages. In that year, total revenue from production and business activities of industrial and handicraft villages reached more than 55 trillion VND (2.23 billion USD), an increase of 13.75% compared to 2018. Total capital and assets of production establishments in the villages were more than 14 trillion VND. The number of workers employed by production facilities in industrial and handicraft villages was more than 1.26 million, a rise of 1.27% compared to 2018. Besides, the number of establishments participating in production and business in craft villages was 335,594, an increase of 1.14% compared to 2018, including 2,786 enterprises, 339 cooperatives, 509 cooperative groups and 331,960 households. Of the total, 203,775 engaged in agro-forestry-fisheries processing and preservation, accounting for 60.7%. According to the Agency for Regional Industry and Trade, currently, household production is still the major model of production organization in industrial and handicraft villages, with small and micro scale. However, they tend to switch into production linkage models. In many localities, a system of businesses, cooperatives and cooperative groups with linkage with business households and craft villages in input material supply, production and sale has been formed, helping increase the productivity, quality and production efficiency, contributing to increasing incomes for labourers and benefits for businesses. Currently, a system of legal documents regarding the management of craft villages has been completed, including the Planning Law, Investment Law, Construction Law, Law on Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Support, Cooperative Law, a directive on industrial promotion, and another on cooperative groups. However, according to the agency, the development of craft villages has yet to match their potential. The major reasons behind this situation include ineffective implementation of the legal documents, backward production equipment and technology, and difficulties in capital access. At the same time, due to low income, the workforce in craft villages tend to move to big cities to seek jobs or switch to other industries. Meanwhile, many villages lacked adequate waste treatment systems, leading to high risk of environmental pollution. In order to support the development of handicraft and industrial-handicraft villages, the agency has proposed a project on developing the villages to 2030 with a vision to 2045. The agency will also draft a resolution on specific regulations on conferring the titles of “People’s Artist” and “Excellent Artists” in the field of handicrafts. In the time to come, the agency will continue to conduct industrial promotion activities and develop industrial clusters to support rural production establishments across the country, including those in craft villages./.