Basket boats shipped to Switzerland
The Phu My trade village in central Phu Yen province’s An Dan commune has won a contract to export the first batch of 200 basket boats to Switzerland.
The small, round bamboo boats, literally known in Vietnamese as Thuyen Thung, are typically used for tuna fishing, especially in southern and central provinces.
“Prices of the exported basket boats are reasonable from VND900,000-2.5 million (US$43-119), depending on size,” said Truong Thi Bich Kieu, who owns a production facility in An Dan commune.
“It’s now the fishing season so we have to speed up production in order to fill orders from domestic clients,” she added.
Her facility has created dozens of jobs for local people that offer a monthly salary of US$3 million (US$143), which is much higher than the local average. However, Kieu said, her business needs financial assistance to expand production.
The village shipped its first basket boats to Thailand last year when this country was struggling with its worst flood in history.