OCOP Vietnam Craft Villages and Products Fair underway until January 2022

The fair displays and promotes handicraft and agricultural products under the One Commune One Product program (OCOP).

The 2021 OCOP Vietnam Craft Village and Products Fair is taking place online with the hope of attracting a large number of local consumers to shop at the website http://craft-viet.com.vn .

Screenshot from website of the online fair

With the theme "Vietnamese craft villages in the digital economy", the fair, which will last until December 25 on-site and January 21 2022 online, features 50 online booths from nearly 20 cities and provinces across the country.

The fair introduces handicraft and farm produce, three-star and four-star OCOP products from Hanoi such as four-star OCOP-labeled celatrus hindsii tea of ​​MD Queens JSC, five-star OCOP-labeled fish sauce of Le Gia Company as well as coffee of all kinds, silk, fruits, organic rice, calamari, and bird’s nest from other localities.

Dao Van Ho, Director of the Vietnam Trade Promotion Center for Agriculture under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said the online exhibition platform fair has a friendly and easy-to-use interface in English and Vietnamese that simulates a real event in 3D, enhancing users' experience when shopping online.

The online fair is organized into five main functional subdivisions including a homepage simulating an agricultural exhibition building, an online fair booth area, a general exhibition   area, online conferences on the sidelines of the fair and the trading floor area.

In the context of the complicated situation of the Covid-19 pandemic, promoting the application of information technology is an inevitable way to meet the market demand, according to Ho.

A report from the Vietnam Traditional Craft Village Association shows that there are more than 5,400 craft villages across the country, of which Hanoi is home to the largest number of craft villages and artisans.

The number of households and business establishments in rural areas increased annually between 8.8% and 9.8%. The average growth rate of production value of craft villages is about 15% per year. The handicraft industry alone has attracted about 1.5 million workers, generating annual export value of about US$1.7 billion. However, issues related tooutput, brand, and product promotion are still the weak point of the craft villages.

The event was intended to be a bridge between production and consumption as well as to improve the image and competitiveness of agricultural and handicraft products in the domestic market.

Over 16 years, the annual OCOP Vietnam Craft Village and Products Fair has helped businesses, craft villages and artisans tap into the domestic and international markets, thus honoring the craft villages and traditional artisans.