The recognition of the salt making craft of the southern province of Bac Lieu as the national intangible cultural heritage was presented to representatives of local authority.BacLieu (VNA) - The salt-making craft of the Mekong Delta province of BacLieu has been recognised as a national intangible cultural heritage.
A ceremony to grant the recognition was recently held at Dien Hay commune, DongHay district by the provincial Department of Culture, Information, Sports andTourism in coordination with the People's Committee of Dong Hay district.
Speaking at the ceremony, Vice Chairwoman of the provincial People's CommitteeCao Xuan Thu Van said the recognition is not only the pride of the provincebut also a contribution to preserving the treasure of Vietnam’s intangiblecultural heritages.
It will also help domestic and international friends better understand theculture of the coastal areas of the district and Bac Lieu province, sheadded.
The local official suggested the community and local authority continue topreserve and develop the traditional salt-making craft, including byexpanding salt-making acreage, improving salt quality, creatingbetter living standards for local salt-farmers and building the Bac Lieu saltbrand.
The provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism will provideinstructions on building tourism products featuring salt-making experiences, aswell as creating souvenirs and medicinal products from salt.
In coordination with the People’s Committee of Dong Hay district, thedepartment will hold an annual salt festival to attract tourists to theregion.
Meanwhile, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of the provincewill develop mechanisms and policies to help salt farmers stabilise theirlives, as well as strengthen guidance and transfer of modern scientific andtechnical applications to increase productivity and improve salt quality tohelp salt farmers feel secure to pursue their traditional craftand pass it to the next generations.
At the same time, the local traffic system will be improved, creatingconvenient transportation and serving the needs of tourism development.
According to Director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports andTourism Tran Thi Lan Phuong, the traditional craft of salt-making in theprovince has existed for a long time.
“The farmers in Bac Lieu are known for their expertise in salt-making. Thecraft used to be thriving in the past, yielding sufficient salt to supply sixsouthern provinces and even nearby countries,” she added.
The salt fields stretch for tens of kilometres along the coast, from Vinh Chaubeach to Ganh Hao estuary. In the early years of the 20th century, salt-makingwas one of three major economic sectors, after rice and aquaculture, making theprovince one of the three major economic centres of the Mekong Delta.
The production process was formed and passed down through many generations offarmers and to this day, the basic techniques are stillmaintained, together with the assistance of modern machinery to improveproductivity.
Salt produced in Bac Lieu often has a strong and unique taste due to the lowcontent of magnesium, calcium and sulfate. Meanwhile, the Natricloridecontent is very high, accounting for 96.6 percent on average, nearly equal to Vietnam’spremium salt standard at 97 percent.
This is the first time a cultural heritage of the province has been included inthe National List of Intangible Cultural Heritages./.
VNA
