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Traditional craft hits modern woes
A formidable pair in the national handicraft industry, the humble bamboo and rattan have also made Viet Nam globally dominant in the weaving crafts industry.
The country boasts one of the most developed and diverse bamboo and rattan craft industry in the world.
Of around 2,000 traditional craft villages in Viet Nam, there are 713 specializing in making woven products of bamboo and rattan.
The products are not only sold heavily in the domestic market, but they have also become popular exports to many countries and territories, netting increased turnovers over the years.
In 2000, exports of bamboo and rattan products stood at US$70 million. Seven years later, it had topped $200 million.
The Phu Vinh trade village in Ha Noi’s Chuong My District is a good example of how this particular handicraft industry has grown in national and international stature.
The village has adopted this vocation for 400 years. In fact, every single household in the Phu Nghia Commune that the village is part of, is engaged in producing various handicraft items made of bamboo and rattan.
Made-in-Phu Vinh products are famous for their delicate beauty, special techniques that preserve them against termites and pests, and for their fast colours.
Many households in the village have established their own companies to boost exports. Last year, total revenues from rattan and bamboo products in Phu Vinh was over VND40 billion ($2.4 million).
The traditional craft has created jobs for thousands of local people, helping improve their livelihood. Last year, the average earning of a worker in this industry was VND800,000 (US$48.5) per month.
Familiar woes
However, the traditional skills of villages are not buffer enough against the ills that plague most developing industries in a competitive international market – capital shortage, lack of high-skilled workers, and increasing difficulties in procuring raw material.
Hoang Gia Uyen, Chairman of the commune’s People’s Committee, says the revenue from bamboo and rattan woven products in the first six months of this year has actually fallen five per cent over the same period last year at VND21.5 billion (over $1.3 million).
The shortage and resultant high prices of raw material in an increasingly competitive export market are a major difficulty that Phu Nghia is grappling with.
In less than a year, the price of rattan has risen to VND10,000 ($0.6) from VND3,000 ($0.18) a kilo.
According to the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agricultural and Rural Development, about 35-40 per cent of rattan and bamboo product enterprises now face the risk of closure due to the shortage of raw materials.
To cope with the shortfall, enterprises in guild villages and communes have had to import rattan and bamboo from regional countries including Malaysia, Indonesia and Cambodia at prices 15 to 20 per cent higher.
In Viet Nam, only 30 per cent of the bamboo exploited is used for producing handicraft and fine art items, with the majority being taken by the construction and pulp producing industries.
Experts and practitioners of the craft say, therefore, it is important that plans are worked out to demarcate areas for rattan and bamboo cultivation in order to provide raw material for hundreds of guild villages who depend on it for their craft and livelihood.
Companies specializing in processing and export of the handicraft products are also finding it hard to access credit.
Many enterprises in the trade village say loan terms of 6 to 8 months at high monthly interest rates are not really feasible when their export contracts are effective for at least one year.
Some have suggested that villagers be helped to preserve their traditional craft with the organisation of festivals and other activities to honour people credited with developing the craft many centuries ago.
Luu Luy Dan, vice chairman of the Viet Nam Association of Craft Villages, says villages need favourable policies from the State, relevant agencies as well as local authorities in accessing credit on preferential terms.
The guild villages also need the State’s help in developing vocational training, improving management skills and knowledge, applying scientific and technological advances, developing markets as well as building brand image.
VNN
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