On the evening of August 31, an event displaying OCOP products associated with the mountainous northern provinces went on display in Sơn Tây Town. — Photos courtesy of Hà Nội’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development

HÀ NỘI — Outstanding products of the “One Commune, One Product” (OCOP) programme from Hà Nội and northern mountainous provinces are being showcased at an event in Sơn Tây Town that began during the National Day holiday.

More than 100 units, enterprises, and production facilities from Hà Nội and 15 other provinces, including nine northern mountainous ones, brought over 1,000 OCOP products to the event.

The event is a place to meet and exchange experiences of organisations and individuals that provide OCOP products so that they can better apply scientific advances, enhance added values to their products and develop sustainable value chains.

The introduction of products into distribution systems, trade centers, supermarkets, business shops, and OCOP products stores are expected to be expanded in Hà Nội.

People are introduced to OCOP products displayed at the event.

In his opening remarks, Nguyễn Văn Chí, Deputy Chief of the coordinating office for the new-style rural area building programme of Hà Nội, said it is an important event under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s direction to help organisations and individuals advertise OCOP products and specialties of regions across Việt Nam.

The OCOP programme looks to have at least 10,000 products nationwide by 2025. It is a focus of economic development efforts in rural areas and also a crucial task in the implementation of the national target programme on new-style countryside building for 2021 - 2025.

Hà Nội is currently home to 1,649 OCOP products, including four products rated five stars, 1,098 rated four stars, and 534 rated three stars. They include 1,071 food products, 35 beverage products, 17 herbal products, 492 handicraft products, and 34 fabric and apparel ones.

These items have quickly gained a foothold in the market, helping local residents expand production, increase product value, and improve their material and spiritual life, Chí noted.

Deputy Director of Hanoi Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Tạ Văn Tường addresses the event.

Speaking at the event, Deputy Director of Hà Nội Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Tạ Văn Tường said that the OCOP programme was officially implemented nationwide in 2018, with a focus on agricultural products, craft villages, and handicrafts.

“The OCOP programme is a key programme for economic development in rural areas towards promoting internal resources and adding value,” he said, adding that it was an important solution and task in the implementation of Việt Nam's national target programme on building new rural areas in the 2021-2025 period.

“Hà Nội is the land of craft villages as it has the highest number of craft villages in the country. Out of 52 traditional occupations of the country, 47 ones are available in Hà Nội,” Tường said, emphasing that each craft village in the city had its own identity featuring the creativity and the love for crafts.

“They make unique and sophisticated products imbued with national cultural identity,” Tường said.

OCOP products are displayed at the event.

Hà Nội also has more than 11,000 agricultural and food products with QR codes, which is said a great advantage for the city in evaluating and classifying products as well as promoting OCOP products.

In the first eight months of 2022, it is estimated that 12.38 million visitors arrived in the city, 4.2 times higher than that of the same period last year.

The city’s total revenue from tourists is estimated at VNĐ35.9 trillion, up 4.4 times compared to the same period last year.

Such positive tourism growth created a very favourable condition for the city to introduce OCOP products and regional specialities to domestic and international tourists, Tường said.

Hà Nội New Rural Development Program Coordination Office signed a cooperation agreement with TikTok to improve the digital capacity for OCOP programme participants and promote OCOP products.

Tường added that one of the most important contents of the OCOP Programme was to strengthen digital transformation, such as promoting the application of information technology and digital transformation in communication; promoting e-commerce development for OCOP products through e-commerce platforms and online sales channels.

The Coordination Office of the New Rural Development Program in Hà Nội will co-operate with TikTok to improve the digital capacity of OCOP programme participants so that they can further make use of social media to promote their products.

The article is published with coordination of the Coordination Office of the New-Style Rural Development Programme in Hà Nội. — VNS