Binh Duong has many traditional craft villages in rural areas. The craft villages include lacquer, ceramics, girdle cake. To preserve and develop the craft villages, the industries need proper policies in the new period.

Risks of oblivion

With their tradition, local craft villages in the province have over the past years contributed to local development process as well as preserved local identity. Aside from creating valued products with high income, the craft villages have greatly contributed to spread quintessence of Thu land to everyone. The craft villages including Thuan An ceramics, Tan Phuoc Khanh ceramics, Tuong Binh Hiep lacquer are the traditional and typical craft ones in the province.

 

Tourists visit a ceramic workshop.

However, along with the process of industrialization and modernization, the craft villages have faced great challenges of oblivion, owing to career change, price hike of input materials, shortage of materials and so on.

According to the local statistics office, the province has 32 craft villages of 46 other occupations. The craft villages are home to 45,755 workshops of over 103,000 laborers enjoying an average income of VND750,000-2,640,000 per capita per month. The villages reach a turnover of over VND4tril per year and mainly locate at the Southern localities of Thuan An, Di An, Thu Dau Mot, Tan Uyen and Ben Cat.

A proper structure needed

The Government issued Decree No.66/2006/ND-CP on developing rural craft villages. At present, some craft villages have focused on tourism for visitors. The move does not help develop their operation.

According to experts, value of rural industries in the province will surge 5%-6% per year in the period of 2011-2020. The production value of rural craft villages will reach over VND6tril by 2015 and over VND8tril by 2020, placing jobs for 104,694 laborers in 2015 and 108,049 workers in 2020.

The local traditional trades will be divided into 3 groups for planning and development. They include groups of carpenter, sculpture, lacquer, wooden shoe; traditional ceramics and girdle cake, piggy bank and incense.

In the coming time, the craft villages should be offered timely assistance and trade promotion to expand the consumption market.

At present, most of the trades have encountered obstacles of productive capital. Therefore, policies of finance and credit should be excelled. Besides, preferential policies of tax, land… should be issued to facilitate the craft villages’ development and existence.

Reported by D.Binh – Translated by A.C