Ninh Thuan (VNA) – The south-central province ofNinh Thuan has earmarked close to 3 billion VND (129,000 USD) for developinglocal craft villages in a bid to boost rural incomes and build new-style ruralareas.
The sum will be channeled into vocational training,infrastructure building and the formation of cooperatives, while supportingproduction, environmental treatment and related tourism development.
Ninh Thuan also plans to design technical demos, a websitefor craft villages, and assist craft facilities in attending exhibitions andtrade fairs.
To date, the province has three recognized traditional craftvillages – Bau Truc for pottery, and My Nghiep and Chung My for brocade weaving– in addition to dozens of others working in seafood processing, as well as producingfish sauce, woodwork products, and grape wine, among others. They have so farcreated thousands of jobs and contributed to the preservation of the culture ofthe ethnic communities in the locality.
However, many of them have been struggling to survive due tocapital and human resources shortage, as well as poor competitiveness.
Amid such context, some are seeking their ways to boostproduction quality and spur demand from the market.
According to Ham Minh Thieu, head of the Cham My Nghiepbrocade services and production cooperative, Cham ethnic people are working toimprove their brocade product designs and diversity to meet consumers’ demandbut still conserve their cultural identity.
The Bau Truc pottery village has followed suit by developinga modern line of pottery products serving the domestic market and export.
By 2020, Ninh Thuan aims to have four to five moreaccredited craft villages, including aquatic processing one in My Tan and a fish sauce village in Ca Na commune.-VNA