Illustrative image (Source: VNA) VinhPhuc (VNA) – Many workers in craft villages in the northernmountainous province of Vinh Phuc have enjoy continuous rises in their income,thanks to the province’s support policy for local small industry and handicraftin rural areas.
VinhPhuc currently counts 25 trade villages, with 19 engaged in traditionaloccupations and 6 in new ones. Those villages create stable jobs for around45,000 workers.
Oneadvantage of such craft villages is that any one, from men to women, young toold, and even school children, can join working when they have some free time.
Theprovincial administration has offered assistance to local workers to takevocational training, and to production households to buy machinery andequipment. The authorities also built planning to expand trade villages so thatlocal production enterprises and households can widen their production scale.
Oneof the examples of villages benefitting from such support is Yen Lac town,where all the four hamlets in the town engage in woodwork. Support from theadministration has helped local residents diversify their products, andgradually expand production scale.
Tensof enterprises have been set up in Yen Lac besides more than 800 householdsoperating small- and medium-sized workshop. They employ about 5,000 locallabourers, with young people gradually becoming main workers in the sector.
Accordingto Nghiem Xuan Cuong, head of the economy club in Dong hamlet, Yen Lac town,Yen Lac’s carpentry products have been sold in other cities and provinces,including those in the southern region.
Manyhouseholds in the locality each earn hundreds of millions of Vietnam dong ayear from woodwork, and each worker can pocket up to 350,000 VND (15.08 USD) perday.
Anothercarpentry village is Thanh Lang in the namesake town in Binh Xuyen district,where more than 2,000 households engage in the occupation, offering stable jobsto locals.
At manymeetings on the labour market in Vinh Phuc, delegates expressed concern about therisk of labour shortage in the locality, especially a lack of manual workers.
Theyexplained that other occupations like construction and foreign investedbusinesses in the locality have attracted locals by offering high wages.Besides, many local youths have been drawn into small trading and services inurban areas.
Therefore,they said, craft production facilities should offer higher salaries and improvetheir working environment to have a stable workforce.
Topreserve craft villages, the provincial People’s Committee has issued adecision on vocational training, under which nearly 20 courses are opened eachyear in towns and communes.
Besides,there are annual provincial skill competitions that aim to encourage artisansto carry forward their innovation in order to churn out products of artisticand economic values.
Itis noteworthy that the committee approved the planning scheme on thedevelopment of small industry by 2020 with a vision towards 2030. Accordingly,Vinh Phuc expects to house 24 clusters of small industry and craft villages by2030.
Currently,the province has invested more than 219 billion VND in building eight clusters of small industry and craft villages,covering over 81 hectares.
Theprovince has been building pilot production models using clean technology, andassisting industrial production establishments in rural areas in participatingin industrial and trade fairs and exhibitions not only in the country but alsoabroad.
Director of the provincial industrialextension centre Nguyen Xuan Binh said the source of capital from the centrehas partly helped ease capital shortage of local production facilities andstimulated investment from enterprises, cooperatives and business households.
In the time ahead, Vinh Phuc willgive priority to developing industries that the province has advantages in,with the aim of increasing the proportion of industry and handicraft in therural economic structure. It is noteworthy that the province has alreadyfulfilled the criterion on electricity supply in building new-style ruralareas, laying the foundation for industrialization./.
VNA
