Need solutions to avoid waste of bronze casting product introduction center

Invested in construction in 2005 with a budget of more than 4.5 billion VND, the Bronze Casting Village Center has an area of 4,300m2 located on Bui Thi Xuan Street, Phuong Duc Ward, with the aim of creating conditions for production facilities and households engaged in bronze casting in the area to participate in displaying, introducing products and expanding the traditional bronze casting profession.

After 18 years of exploitation, the Bronze Casting Village Center has now deteriorated, many items are damaged, the walls have peeled paint, and the iron and steel are rusted, causing stains and dirt. Due to lack of management and lack of facilities to display products, in recent times, some households have requisitioned the frontage of the stalls to gather goods, hang hammocks to rest and park their vehicles, making the central area dirty and messy. While this is the central route leading to Thuy Bieu tourist area and famous tombs of Hue, the number of tourists passing through here is quite large.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Nam, Phuong Duc Ward, the bronze casting craft village currently has nearly 30 households, businesses and cooperatives specializing in casting bronze incense burners, statues, gongs, and souvenirs and gifts from bronze materials to serve tourists. Due to the lack of a place to display products, the establishments mainly display and sell them at home or rent premises to open shops on Bui Thi Xuan Street, but due to the scattered concentration, they do not attract tourists to visit and shop. Therefore, the establishments hope that the city will urgently invest in upgrading and repairing the craft village center so that the establishments can register to rent premises to display and introduce products, promoting the consumption of craft village products.

According to Vice Chairman of Hue City People's Committee, Mr. Truong Dinh Hanh, after being put into operation, the Bronze Casting Village Center was assigned by Hue City People's Committee to Phuong Duc Ward People's Committee for management with 7 households renting and registering to do business in bronze casting products. However, due to the small number of visitors, most of them are domestic visitors coming to buy bronze worship products such as incense burners, bells, etc., while there are almost no visitors to the exhibition area introducing the craft village (only a few students from domestic universities come to visit and study). Therefore, the city has assigned the Hue City Land Fund Development Center to manage according to Decision No. 256 dated January 21, 2022 of the Provincial People's Committee on the recovery and adjustment of the property of the Bronze Casting Village Center from Phuong Duc Ward People's Committee to the Hue City Land Fund Development Center for management and use.

Currently, the City Land Fund Development Center is coordinating with relevant units to develop a Project on using public assets for leasing, joint ventures and associations to submit to the Provincial People's Committee for consideration and approval. After the project is approved, it will be put up for public bidding and auction according to regulations to call for socialized investment.

As a tourist city, a festival city of Vietnam, recently, the number of tourists coming to Hue is quite large, especially tours of craft villages, eco-community tourism, in which Phuong Duc bronze casting village and Thuy Bieu eco-tour are some of the attractive destinations. Therefore, in order to form a tour to visit craft villages as well as promote the consumption of craft village products, and at the same time create urban beauty for the Bronze Casting Village Center, Hue City needs to speed up the progress of the project to use public assets to soon upgrade and repair the infrastructure in this area so that craft village establishments have a place to display, introduce and consume casting products, avoiding wasting a beautiful land near the city center.

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