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Price surge harms handicrafts
The recent “price storm” has heavily hit handicraft businesses struggling from a lack of workers and materials.
Because of the shortage, Vietnam will be unable to reach the 2010 target export turnover of 1.5 billion USD from rattan and bamboo products.
One of Vietnam ’s top ten rattan and bamboo export firms said that though they had recently signed a substantial export contract with a foreign company, they were unable to meet demand. This was because there were no suppliers between the north and Binh Dinh province able to produce the four tonnes of processed rattan a day necessary for production.
So in terms of contracts, Vietnam’s craft businesses are doing well, but they must now import 50 percent of their materials from Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Laos, among others, if they want to keep their contracts. And the problem is likely to persist.
Such reliance on imported products will only drive down the competitiveness of Vietnamese craft products, particularly as raw material prices rise.
In the course of a year, the price of rattan has nearly doubled, reaching 9,000 VND (0.5 USD) compared to 7,000 VND (0.4USD) a kilo last year.
Bamboo prices also increased from 7,000 VND-17,000 VND (nearly 1 USD) in 2007 and to 30,000 VND (1.80 USD) in the middle of 2008.
Another reason for the lack of products is insufficient labour for the country’s 2,000 craft villages operating as households, collectives and private firms. These villages generate around 1.3 million jobs.
Thai Dai Phong, director of Duc Phong company, a large craft business in the central province of Nghe An, said that his business needed workers.
Though some provinces are taking measures to resolve these problems, they are meeting little success.
Viet Cuong Joint Stock Company in the northern province of Ha Tay and Duc Phong company have scrapped their rattan planting projects due to a lack of capital.
The sector is also in need of support from authorities.
Thailand , Indonesia and Malaysia have been planting rattan for export and for handicraft production, and it has earned them billions of dollars a year.
Yet Vietnam craft firms have not found a way to promote their business at the same level. A comprehensive strategy from authorities is needed to move their industry forward.
The country’s export turnover from craft products in 2007 stayed at over 219 million USD, an increase of 14.4 percent against 2006.
VNA
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