Thirteen traditional craft villages in Ho Chi Minh City will be
preserved and developed by 2018 if a proposal by the municipal
Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is approved.
The department’s deputy director, Le Hong Hoanh, said the plan was
submitted recently to city’s People’s Committee for consideration.
The city has 19 craft villages of which these 13 are the oldest and have the largest number of workers, she said.
They include the Thai My knitting village and Phu Hoa Dong girdle cake
village in Cu Chi district; Binh Loi flower and ornamental plant
village and Le Minh Xuan incense making village in Binh Chanh district;
Quy Nhon salt village in Can Gio district; Xuan Thoi traditional mat
weaving village in Hoc Mon district and the ornamental flower village in
Go Vap district.
Work to keep the 13 villages going would be
done between 2013 and 2015, Hoanh said. It includes restoring one
village whose craft is in danger of disappearing and preserving six
others.
After 2015, promotional activities would be undertaken
and more outlets would be found forthe villages’ products to make them
sustainable.
While agreeing with the need to preserve and
develop craft villages, Vice Chairman of the city People’s Committee Le
Minh Tri, however, said 13 were too many and would spread the resources
too thin.
He also wanted the department to spell out which
villages would be developed for economic purposed and which for cultural
purposes.
“This classification will enable the city
government to provide proper support policies to ensure effectiveness in
each case,” he said.
The plan should also focus on developing
new craft villages, he said, pointing out that this would enable
official agencies to manage, protect the environment, and mobilise all
resources.
Studying the demand for training at traditional
craft villages is key to having an effective training programme to
ensure supply of human sources for preservation and development.
The 19 crafts villages in the city provide employment for some 4,497 households with 13,400 members.-VNA