Hanoi (VNA) – The 5th Coconut Festival will be held in the MekongDelta province of Ben Tre from November 14-20, heard a press conference held bythe provincial People’s Committee in Hanoi on July 31.
According to Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Huu Lap,the festival aims to honour local coconut and coconut-based products whilepopularising the local staple among domestic and foreign tourists.
A wide range of activities are scheduled during the festival, including coconutcuisine festival, exhibition of coconut products, conference on coconut valuechain, and a culture-art-tourism week which features a string of events likeart performances, tour operation and folk games.
They are expected to help Ben Tre province promote its advantage in exports ofcoconut products, and raise public awareness of the local coconut culture andpotential of the local fruit.
Besides, the festival will contribute to attracting investment for coconutvalue chain and tourism development, he added.
Ben Tre province accounts for half of the country’s coconut plantation land,and 80 percent of the Mekong Delta’s coconut cultivation areas. The localityearns average 200 million USD from coconut exports each year, 25 percent ofwhich is contributed by with processed products.
The coconut industry has been a culture of the locality, which plays animportant role in local socio-economic development.-VNA