Craft villages, a non-competitive and vulnerable part of Vietnam’seconomy, will face greater challenges sparked by the establishment ofthe ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by the end of 2015.

The AEC will effectively eliminate the majority of tariffs across theregion, leading to significant pressure from mass imports and a riskthat Vietnamese products may lose out in the domestic market.

Speaking at a recent forum concerning the difficult outlook, Vu QuocTuan, Chairman of the advisory council at the Vietnam Craft Villages’Association, put forward a number of suggested measures.

He emphasised the necessity of enterprises operating in craftproducts to have basic knowledge of the AEC. A survey conducted by theMinistry of Planning and Investment unveiled 76 percent of surveyeddomestic firms said they were completely unaware of the AEC.

The transition is more likely to produce positive outcomes ifaffected businesses research rival products and drastically prioritiseenhancing their product quality, he said.

Tuanalso pointed to the small scale of primarily family-run productionfacilities in craft villages nationwide and underscored the importanceof connecting facilities to improve overall sector competitiveness.

At the forum, the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee andthe Vietnam Craft Villages’ Association called for additional Stateincentives and favourable policies facilitating the development of thetraditional business.

A round-table talk isexpected to take place at the end of March between the Vietnam CraftVillages’ Association and the Ministry of Industry and Trade, theMinistry of Finance and others to review the implementation of policieson craft village development and seek related solutions.-VNA