Ton Gia Hoa, Vice President of the Vietnam Craft Villages Association,spoke to Hai Quan (Customs) newspaper about the challenges facingtraditional Vietnamese handicrafts and measures needed to make them morecompetitive.
Q: What challenges will traditionalVietnamese handicraft products have to cope with when the ASEAN EconomicCommunity (AEC) and its attached free trade agreements go into effect?
A: The Vietnam Craft Villages' Association organised manyconferences to evaluate the impacts of integration and invited expertsto speak about issues related to macroscopic economies in craft villagesacross the country. Most enterprises, cooperatives and residents ofcraft villages have little knowledge about AEC and what they stand togain or lose once integrated.
I think many craft businesses willbe forced to close down if they do not re-examine their weaknesses andrepair them quickly, especially the lack of cooperation between craftvillages.
The current capacity to connect craft villages israther weak. Most businesses are skilled in making detailed craftproducts, but they can't produce them in large quantity in a shortorder. Many craft enterprises admit that they had to refuse large ordersthat needed it delivered within a month.
Domestic enterprisesare not good at working with each other to meet large orders, unlikeenterprises in the other regions. Customers moved on to enterprises inLao, Thailand and China.
Q: In your point of view, could Vietnamese traditional handicraft products be competitive with those from other countries?
A: We can't underestimate traditional craft economies of regionalcountries, but we should also acknowledge our advantages. Vietnamesecraft products have unique and age-old cultural values. We should takeadvantage of this to compete with craft products from other countries.
Anotherfactor that makes our products competitive is labour cost, which ismuch more reasonable than other countries in the region. Vietnamesecraft villages could use local workers so that they don't have to goabroad for work as they currently do.
Q: What is the biggest weakness of the traditional craft industry?
A:Design and copyright protection are the biggest problems facingcraft villages. Many villages have yet to protect their products withtrademarks. These problems must be solved by the time we integrate.
Q: What should craft villages do to develop during the integration process?
A:Based on studies done of craft villages in Vietnam, authorisedagencies and sectors have worked out a variety of measures to improveand develop them. However, it's not enough.
We want to organise adiscussion for artisans and local residents of craft villages to speakabout their difficulties to responsible agencies so that more supportivepolicies will be provided to them.
We have already missedseveral opportunities to develop our traditional handicrafts because of ashortage of co-operation amongst relevant authorities and individuals.
Moreover,to improve the production capacity of craft villages, I think aneffective cooperative model would be the key to help connect craftvillages.-VNA
Q: What challenges will traditionalVietnamese handicraft products have to cope with when the ASEAN EconomicCommunity (AEC) and its attached free trade agreements go into effect?
A: The Vietnam Craft Villages' Association organised manyconferences to evaluate the impacts of integration and invited expertsto speak about issues related to macroscopic economies in craft villagesacross the country. Most enterprises, cooperatives and residents ofcraft villages have little knowledge about AEC and what they stand togain or lose once integrated.
I think many craft businesses willbe forced to close down if they do not re-examine their weaknesses andrepair them quickly, especially the lack of cooperation between craftvillages.
The current capacity to connect craft villages israther weak. Most businesses are skilled in making detailed craftproducts, but they can't produce them in large quantity in a shortorder. Many craft enterprises admit that they had to refuse large ordersthat needed it delivered within a month.
Domestic enterprisesare not good at working with each other to meet large orders, unlikeenterprises in the other regions. Customers moved on to enterprises inLao, Thailand and China.
Q: In your point of view, could Vietnamese traditional handicraft products be competitive with those from other countries?
A: We can't underestimate traditional craft economies of regionalcountries, but we should also acknowledge our advantages. Vietnamesecraft products have unique and age-old cultural values. We should takeadvantage of this to compete with craft products from other countries.
Anotherfactor that makes our products competitive is labour cost, which ismuch more reasonable than other countries in the region. Vietnamesecraft villages could use local workers so that they don't have to goabroad for work as they currently do.
Q: What is the biggest weakness of the traditional craft industry?
A:Design and copyright protection are the biggest problems facingcraft villages. Many villages have yet to protect their products withtrademarks. These problems must be solved by the time we integrate.
Q: What should craft villages do to develop during the integration process?
A:Based on studies done of craft villages in Vietnam, authorisedagencies and sectors have worked out a variety of measures to improveand develop them. However, it's not enough.
We want to organise adiscussion for artisans and local residents of craft villages to speakabout their difficulties to responsible agencies so that more supportivepolicies will be provided to them.
We have already missedseveral opportunities to develop our traditional handicrafts because of ashortage of co-operation amongst relevant authorities and individuals.
Moreover,to improve the production capacity of craft villages, I think aneffective cooperative model would be the key to help connect craftvillages.-VNA
