A booth introduces An Giang Province’s products made under the national “One Commune-One Product” programme at an event held in the province’s Long Xuyên City in September. – VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Sang

AN GIANG – An Giang Province is increasingly focusing on the national “One Commune-One Product” programme in combination with tourism to improve rural incomes.

After more than four years of implementing the programme, the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta province has 92 OCOP products rated between three and five stars, including food and beverages and handicrafts.

It has five co-operatives, one co-operative group, 21 enterprises, and 35 establishments that produce them.

OCOP has helped enhance the value of products and helped producers increase revenues, according to the province's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Nguyễn Sĩ Lâm, director of the department, said the programme has helped the agriculture sector switch from small scale production to developing value chains for agricultural products.

Besides, the province has developed OCOP products in combination with developing rural tourism to improve the lives of people, preserve local cultures and protect the environment.

An Giang aims to develop each OCOP product as a cultural messenger of its respective locality and representative of local traditions and customs, he said.

The products would fully exploit their cultural values to attract tourists under the province’s strategy of developing rural community tourism together with building new-style rural areas, he said.

The province has developed tours to places that produce OCOP products such as the brocade weaving village of the Chăm ethnic people in Tân Châu Town, iron products and milk rice paper making villages in Phú Tân District, carpentry village in Chợ Mới District, and incense making village in Long Xuyên City.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has approved a pilot model for OCOP community tourism in three communes in Chợ Mới District’s Cù Lao Giêng riverine island.

The province's departments of Agriculture and Rural Development and Culture, Sports and Tourism will develop rural tourism models comprising farms and OCOP products.

The province will implement trade promotion activities to boost the sales of OCOP products related to rural tourism.

An Giang has beautiful landscapes, including mountains, festivals and historical and cultural sites that attract millions of tourists every year.

The national new-style rural area programme has improved the look of the province’s rural areas and the lives of people there.

The province targets having 70 new OCOP products by the end of this year and 170 more by 2025, with priority for products related to rural tourism.

It wants at least 30 per cent of OCOP producers to develop value chains for their products to achieve a circular economy.

It also wants at least 30 per cent of craft villages having OCOP products, and all the products sold through modern distribution channels.

Now more than 60 products are sold on e-commerce platforms. – VNS