The Việt Nam Fruit and One Commune, One Product (OCOP) Festival 2022, the first of its kind in the country, kicked off in the northwestern province of Sơn La on May 28, featuring agricultural products of 50 cities and provinces nationwide. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — The Việt Nam Fruit and One Commune, One Product (OCOP) Product Festival 2022 officially opened in Sơn La Province on Saturday, attended by Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính, to promote OCOP goods.  

The five-day festival is part of the Prime Minister’s national dialogue with farmers and will be open until Wednesday.

The festival aims to promote Vietnamese OCOP brands and create conditions for Sơn La and other provinces across the country to meet, exchange and promote potential and trade opportunities.

It is also a place to connect the fruit and OCOP markets domestically and internationally, contributing to the socio-economic recovery and development after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Prime Minister Chính praised the initiative of Sơn La’s Provincial Party Committee, Provincial People's Committee and the Việt Nam Farmer’s Union for organising the Việt Nam Fruit and OCOP Product Festival 2022.

The Prime Minister said that crop conversions, from those not economically viable to fruit trees of higher economic value, are the right policy for the region.

In this aspect, Sơn La is a bright spot in the development of fruit trees in Việt Nam, he noted.

The Prime Minister asked the agricultural industry to continue promoting the application of science-technology and digital transformation, building brand names, and planning raw material areas and post-harvest preservation technology.

Việt Nam has become one of the leading exporters of agro-forestry-fishery products in the world with a value of more than US$48 billion last year, of which vegetables and fruits contributed nearly $3.6 billion.

The OCOP programme was officially implemented nationwide in 2018, to focus on developing advantageous agricultural and non-agricultural products and services in each locality for the value chain, which are highly competitive in domestic and international markets.

So far, Việt Nam has nearly 7,500 OCOP products rated three stars or higher. OCOP products have quickly taken a strong position and received a positive response from the market, helping farmers to expand production scale, and increase product value.

Furthermore, the Việt Nam Fruit and OCOP Product Festival is available on the e-commerce platform Postmart.

The Việt Nam Farmer’s Union and post offices of provinces and cities have organised 63 digital booths, representing the 63 localities across the country, on Postmart.

The digital pavilions are designed with specialised pages such as four-season fruits, OCOP products, agricultural specialities and tourism products.

Currently, more than 1,300 regional speciality products, such as fresh fruits, processed products, and OCOP products, have been introduced to serve domestic and international consumers.

To find out information and choose to buy standard, high-quality, food-safe and hygienic agricultural products with clear origin and reasonable prices from reputable suppliers across the country, consumers can access the address https://postmart.vn/landingpage/festivalsonla.html.

Dialogue with farmers

PM Chính hosted the fourth dialogue with farmers yesterday in Sơn La Province, to find ways to support them and implement the sustainable agricultural and rural development strategy.

The event was held both in-person and via videoconference, connecting 3,400 participants from 62 provinces and cities with the representives in Sơn La. 

The forum provided a venue for farmers, agricultural cooperatives, businesses, organisations, individuals and scientists to directly report to the Government leader about the difficulties and challenges they face in implementing agricultural, rural and farming development.

Topics focused on issues relating to land management and use, stabilising prices for agricultural materials, providing capital support for farmers and businesses to invest and expand production, building brands for Vietnamese agricultural products, policies supporting farmers to recover after the COVID-19 pandemic, digital transformation, vocational training, agricultural insurance, environmental pollution and transport development.  

PM Chính said that the Government always pays great attention to agriculture, rural areas and farmers, with priority given to completing mechanisms and policies, and implementing important related projects, programmes and strategies.

The Government requires ministries, agencies and localities to adopt the conclusions of previous dialogues, contributing to the development of the agricultural sector, building new-style rural areas and improving the living conditions of farmers. — VNS