One Village One Product (OVOP) was the theme that attracted over 500delegates from 16 nations and numerous organisations interested in ruralcraft villages to a workshop in Hanoi on December 14.

The OVOP movement has been expanding in Japan , China , Thailandand several African countries as it brings in a high economic valuefor rural workers involved in production, processing and marketing. TheVietnamese Government has seen it a model to realise its policy onbuilding new rural lifestyles.

The Minister ofAgriculture and Rural Development (MARD), Cao Duc Phat, emphasised thatVietnamese efforts to develop craft villages are aimed at fulfilling thecountry’s UN millennium goals to reduce poverty.

He said the policy would help to generate employment, increase theincomes of rural workers, tap into natural resources and contribute toconserving the country’s cultural traditions to sustain ruraldevelopment.

MARD reported that Vietnam ishome to 2,790 crafts villages that specialise in various fields, rangingfrom lacquer work to porcelain, embroidery, wickerwork, weaving, paperproduction, paintings, wooden furniture and stone sculptures. Craftvillages have provided over 11 million jobs for rural workers withincomes ranging from one to three million VND per month.

Statistics show that the poverty rates in crafts villages have nowdropped to 3.7 percent against the national average of 10.4 percent.

The revenues from fine art exports have increased from 273 million USD in 2000 to 900 million USD in 2009.

The organisers, including MARD, the Oita OVOP Association and theJapanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), said that the visitorswill be shown around Bat Trang porcelain village and Phu Vinhwickerwork village in Hanoi ’s suburbs./.