Conserving craft villages contributes to sustainable rural development

A place to preserve history and culture

Archaeological findings and historical data have proven that Vietnamese craft villages were born thousands of years ago. Along with developing agricultural civilization, many handicrafts appeared in rural areas, initially as jobs to take advantage of leisure time to make necessary items in daily life. Later, this activity developed into exchanging goods and seeking income outside farming.

According to the Department of Cooperative and Rural Development statistics, traditional craft villages are primarily concentrated in the Red River Delta, such as Hanoi, Bac Ninh, Thai Binh, Nam Dinh, etc. A few are scattered in other regions, Central and Southern highlands and deltas.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan assessed craft villages and said this field is socio-economic, historical, and cultural. "Craft villages are not only a place to preserve and preserve cultural and historical values, but also a place that contributes to ensuring the stable material and spiritual life of the people, and are a source of economic development." - local society," he shared.

According to the Minister, each profession and each village is a unique historical and cultural story of each region. Many traditional craft villages retain famous product brands such as Bat Trang Ceramics, Van Phuc silk, My Nghiep brocade weaving, Bau Truc Ceramics, Binh Duong ceramics, An Hiep conical hat, etc.

Although they weave brocade, the patterns and motifs of the Dao, Mong, and Thai people are different. Thanks to these factors, the diversity of designs, materials, sizes, and types of products in craft villages is shown.

To date, the country has recognized more than 2,000 traditional craft villages. Some conventional craft villages have proactively and flexibly improved techniques and technology and invested in facilities and human resources. Therefore, domestic and foreign markets and consumers increasingly favor and consume their products in large quantities. In addition, craft villages also integrate multiple values, helping artisans and people in the area diversify their services through tourism and experiential activities.

"The products of craft villages are inspired by the talented hands and creative minds of a team of thousands of artisans, skilled craftsmen, and workers to create products that serve the daily lives of people and have aesthetics that contribute to the uniqueness of the community culture of Vietnam's ethnic groups," Minister Le Minh Hoan assessed.

On a national level, Hanoi is considered a land of a "hundred professions." From here, many professions have formed, developed, and spread to many localities across the country. That is also why the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development coordinated with the Hanoi People's Committee to organize the Craft Villages Conservation and Development Festival 2023.

Large fiscal space for export

Since 2018, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has been assigned the task of state management of developing industries and craft villages. Implementing assigned tasks, the agricultural sector has synchronously deployed many central and local solutions and achieved specific results.

Specifically, the rural vocational sector is attracting more than 800 thousand vocational establishments, including businesses, cooperatives, and production households, creating jobs for about 3.7 million workers. This number has increased by nearly 1.5 million workers compared to 2020, of which 2.7 million are regular workers. The rest are seasonal workers.

The scale of the rural industry has a turnover of more than VND 200 trillion. The export turnover of the handicraft industry alone in 2022 will reach over US$ 3.3 billion. Many craft villages have become unique tourism products attractive to domestic and foreign tourists while promoting the image of the country and the people of Vietnam to friends worldwide.

"In the future, the rural craft sector and craft villages will certainly have a breakthrough development. Maintaining and preserving the cultural values of traditional craft and craft villages will improve competitiveness, the added value of craft village products, creating jobs and increasing income for people will create many values, including protecting the landscape, space, and environment, building residential areas, cultural village, and promoting sustainable rural socio-economic development", Minister Le Minh Hoan hopes.

To preserve, recreate, and promote the identity of the nation's traditional cultural values, Forming contemporary cultural features of Vietnamese craft villages, Minister Le Minh Hoan believes that the 2023 Vietnam Craft Villages Conservation and Development Festival will be a place to honor artisans, skilled workers, and workers in craft villages, arousing the love of traditional occupations among the young generation.

This is the premise to attract a young, qualified workforce to participate in craft villages' production and business activities. It also creates an environment for exchanging experiences and knowledge about designing, producing, and trading Vietnamese craft village products with countries worldwide.

Within the framework of the Vietnam Craft Villages Conservation and Development Festival 2023, the Vietnam Handicraft Products Competition received 500 products and works from more than 200 authors and groups of authors in all three regions. Most products belong to the ceramic and glass groups; group of rattan, bamboo, leaves, and group of lacquer, mother-of-pearl mosaic, and fine art wood.

The oldest artist participating is Mr. Nguyen Quang Xuan, born in 1944 (79 years old), who makes Uncle Ho's rubber sandals. The youngest skilled worker was born in 2005 (18 years old), participating in bamboo and rattan products. As a result, the Organizing Committee selected 45 products, of which five products won prize A, 10 products won prize B, 15 products won prize C, and 15 products won prize D.