Coconut products are introduced at the press conference in Hà Nội on July 31. — VNS Photo Minh Thu

HÀ NỘI — The fifth Coconut Festival will be held on November 14-20 in the Mekong Delta province of Bến Tre, offering a diverse range of cultural, sport and tourism activities.

With the theme ‘Coconuts on the Way to Integration and Sustainable Development’, the festival honours coconut trees and their products, the growers and those who work in the sector.

The festival was organised successfully for the first time in 2009 and has been expanded in scale and quality after four editions, Nguyễn Hữu Lập, vice chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, said at a press conference on July 31.

This year, it will feature exhibitions on coconut products and trade fairs, along with a wide range of southern delicacies starring coconut as the main ingredient. Workshops focusing on brand building for Bến Tre coconut will also be arranged within the framework of the event.

A key event is the Culture and Tourism Week highlighting Bến Tre as a cradle of coconuts. The activities include a fashion show of coconut costumes, coconut parade and trips to discover Bến Tre Province.

“The festival aims to promote coconut products of the province to domestic and foreign visitors, create an opportunity to exchange between farmers and enterprises at home and abroad, and lift the position and value of Vietnamese coconut sector in the world market,” said Lập.

“Growers will have a chance to share experience in coconut cultivation, processing, and consumption. It is hoped to encourage farmers to apply modern technology in cultivation to improve productivity and quality, thus expanding markets and boosting exports.” 
Bến Tre Province is home to 163,000 households involved in farming 71,000ha of coconut trees – half of the country’s coconut-growing land. They produce 800 million coconut fruits and ship about US$200 million worth of coconut products abroad annually. Vietnamese coconut products are exported to about 84 countries and territories worldwide. — VNS