Over 100 booths set up at Hanoi OCOP introduction week
A week for One Commune, One Product (OCOP) product introduction opened at Thong Nhat Park in Hanoi on August 11, with more than 100 booths displaying products in many industries such as food, beverage, herbal medicine, handicraft industry, textiles, cosmetics, household appliances and vegetables.
Nguyen Van Chi, deputy chief of Hanoi’s Coordinating Office for the New-Style Rural Area Building Programme, said that the event, which will run until August 14, aims to help OCOP producers and traders strengthen cooperation, thus promoting sales of the products.
OCOP producers will also receive consultations and guidance to ensure their products meet the requirements of distributors and consumers, he said.
On the occasion, the city asked distributors, trade centres, supermarkets and shops as well as e-commerce platforms to increase the sale of OCOP products to all the consumers.
In 2021, the capital city recognised 595 OCOP products, including 367 rated four stars and 228 rated three stars.
From now to the end of 2022, four events will be held in different districts of Hanoi to introduce OCOP products of not only the city but also other provinces in the northern, central, Central Highlands, and southern regions.
Authorities will assist with the opening of OCOP showrooms so that these products can access more consumers city-wide. Distributors, shopping centres, supermarkets, grocery and handicraft stores and e-commerce platforms will be encouraged to tighten links with producers to boost sales of OCOP items.
So far, Hanoi has recognised 1,649 OCOP products, including four products rated five stars, 1,098 others rated four stars, and 534 rated three stars. It is taking the lead nationwide in terms of the numbers of OCOP products and five-star OCOP products.
Apart from product assessment and rating, the city has also paid attention to organising events, fairs and workshops to increase connectivity under value chains and advertise those products to other localities in Vietnam and international partners. Many showrooms of OCOP products have also been opened in tandem with the development of craft village tourism and rural tourism.
By 2025, Hanoi looks to have an additional 2,000 OCOP products rated at least three stars, all communes that meet advanced criteria of the new-style rural area building programme having OCOP products, and at least 70% of OCOP product makers being cooperatives, cooperative groups and businesses.
Meanwhile, the municipal People’s Committee also made a plan on developing agricultural and rural tourism in tandem with new-style rural area building during 2022 - 2025, part of efforts to boost sustainable tourism development.
In this plan, each suburban district holding potential and advantages for agricultural and rural tourism will develop from one to three community-based tourism services or sites, with at least 50% of those products registered for intellectual property protection and recognised as three-star or higher products under the OCOP programme.
The OCOP programme was initiated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in 2008, based on Japan’s “One Village, One Product” and Thailand’s “One Tampon, One Product” programmes. It is an economic development programme for rural areas and also to help implement the national target programme on new-style rural area building.
OCOP products are made basing on the combination of local resources, traditional culture, and advanced technology, thus promoting product diversification, quality, packaging, and origin traceability.
The programme has provided farmers with the chance to come together to form cooperatives, which in turn have enabled farmers to create goods with better quality, design, and packaging that meet higher standards and match market demand.
