Deputy Minister of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment Phung Duc Tien said that OCOP products have contributed to shiftingthinking from agricultural production to production associated withbusiness, especially linking agricultural development witheconomic, service and tourism development of localities.
According to statistics of the Ministry ofAgriculture and Rural Development, the country has over 10,800 OCOP products rated three stars or higher from over 5,600 OCOP entities, of which 37.9%are cooperatives, 24% are enterprises, 35.2% are productionestablishments/business households, and the remainder are cooperative groups.
The Mekong Delta region has more than 2,000three-to-five-star OCOP products, led by Dong Thap province with 357 products.
Localities in the region have had many strategies linking OCOP products with tourism to create a dual economic advantage based on their specific characteristics.
Chairman of the People’s Committee of Dong Thap province Pham Thien Nghia said that local OCOP products have gradually entered modern distribution channels such as supermarkets or shopping centres. Dong Thap is also promoting community-basedtourism products and OCOP products, craft village ones, and cultural festivals tocreate a highlight to attract tourists.
Tourism models combined with agricultureare operating quite effectively, helping to lengthen the value chain, increasethe value of agricultural products, create more jobs in rural areas, and bringstable income to farmers.
Similarly, Can Tho city also considers theOCOP programme as one of the major agricultural and rural economic programmesthat clearly demonstrates the role of multi-value integration in theagricultural sector. Currently, the city has 92 three- and four-star OCOPproducts.
To create favourable conditions for theseproducts to develop, the city has brought them into tourist attractions,hotels, restaurants to make them closer to tourists./.