Vietnamese traditional handicrafts
such as arts ceramics and pottery, lacquerwares, wooden wares, bamboo
and rattant products, silk, brass wares, tusks and horns, ect. are
renown throghout the word for their uniqueness with rich cultural
characters and beautiful designs created by the hands of talented
and skill artisians.
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Closely associated with
these products are traditional craft villages which have
been existing and developing for
thousand of years and have become one of the most
precious cultural heritages of the nation of Vietnam.
Today, Vietnamese handicrafts, many of which are
traditional villages' products, have gained a presence
in the world market and appreciation by customers. |
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In Vietnam, the cooperative
movement was launched in
the 6th decade of the 20th century. For the past 50
years, the significant social and economic role of
cooperativeshas been maintained. Cooperatives have
enabled all social classes and various enterprises, especially
small and medium enterprises to contribute to economic development
through the realization of social potential in terms of
capital, material, labor, market, etc, which has resulted
in economic structure reform, job expansion, production
promotion, and national economic growth. |
The cooperative sector has also supported and promoted the development
of the household and private economy and small and medium size business
units, and facilitated employment creation, income generation, poverty
reduction and implementation of social policies, especially in rural
and populated areas in industrial zones and big cities. Up to 30
June 2005, there were 18,500 cooperatives of various types and forms.
In 2004, the cooperative sector alone accounted for 8.6% of national
GDP and employed 10.5 million laborers.
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forerunner of Vietnam Cooperative Alliance was comprised of
two national organizations: the Union of Small Handicraft
Industry Cooperatives of Vietnam and the Management Committee
for Supplying and Marketing of Cooperatives in Vietnam. Working
as an non-governmental organisation, at present, the Vietnam
Cooperative Alliance (VCA) has become an extensively organized
system with a wide network |
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from
Central level to 64 provinces in the whole country and has
more than 9000 members are including: cooperatives, cooperative
unions, small and medium producers and business units. With
the view that assits Vietnam's cooperatives and SMEs in consulting,
researching and exporting their products, especially the handicrafts,
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VCA has also established cooperative relations
with other
international and regional cooperative federations and jointly
exchanged information with over 300 internationaland non
governmental organizations.
With their sophisticated professional skills, an abundant source
of local materials, and a tradition of assiduous and creative labor,
Vietnamese craftmen have brought about a vigorous vital force
to the handicrafts and fine art industry which consequently can
exist and develop from one generation to another. For a very
long time, handicraft products have been a source of cultural pride
and a source of income for the people. As the varieties of handicraft
products are too numerous to be fully introduced, only a few typical
items and their sources are mentioned here. |
