OCOP products of Bat Trang pottery village

The OCOP program aims to develop agricultural, non-agricultural, and service products that match the advantages of each locality.

Products are ranked into 5 levels, of which the 5-star level is the highest, meeting international standards.

Vietnam’s goal is to have 2,500 OCOP products by the end of this year, of which Hanoi will have 1,000.

The program has offered golden opportunities to craft villages and agricultural producers.  

Ta Van Tuong, Deputy Director of Hanoi Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the participating products must comply with set regulations and standards.  

“The OCOP program aims to improve the products made by craft villages towards creating recognized brands. Once an OCOP product is identified as a finished item, it can be marketed. Unfinished products are suitable only for traditional street markets. OCOP products sold in modern distribution channels, especially in the e-commerce system, will fetch higher prices and find more customers,” said Tuong.

Every year, as soon as products are recognized as OCOP items, Hanoi organizes trade promotion activities including seminars on regional specialties and OCOP products, trade fairs, and festivals.

Hanoi is building an innovation and design center in Dong Anh district near Noi Bai International Airport to introduce OCOP products in combination with tourism development.

Ha Thi Vinh, Deputy Chairwoman of the Vietnam Craft Village Association and Chairwoman of the Hanoi Handicraft and Craft Villages Association, said, “Innovating OCOP products is important. We have built a center for Vietnamese craft villages in Bat Trang pottery village where signature items of Hanoi’s craft villages will be introduced along with OCOP products from other regions.”

“This will be a center for trade promotion. Known as the land of traditional crafts, Hanoi has many fine art handicrafts which have been recognized internationally. When craft villages develop, they will create lots of jobs,” said Vinh.

The state has built other centers to display and introduce OCOP products and connect retailers and producers.

Bui Thi Thanh Ha, Director of the Thanh Ha Agricultural Production Cooperative in Hanoi’s Thuong Tin district, which specializes in growing sprout vegetables, said, “Participating in the OCOP program has helped us define a comprehensive set of standards.”

“By meeting OCOP standards, we have earned a stall to display and introduce our products. This has enabled us to sign major orders and become more widely known. Currently, we supply sprout vegetables to the Big C, Aeon, Lotte, and Intimex supermarkets and are known to consumers in Bac Giang, Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, and Vinh,” Ha added.

Other distributors include the national OCOP e-portal, the OCOP product trading floor, and annual public polls of best OCOP products through which Hanoi’s items  have become famous nationwide, and in a few cases, even worldwide.