FAO highly appreciates Vietnam's OCOP program

(Chinhphu.vn) - FAO Deputy Director-General Beth Bechdol emphasized that Vietnam's "One Commune One Product" (OCOP) program is not only a driving force for local economic development but also a foundation for a sustainable agricultural growth strategy.

FAO Deputy Director-General Beth Bechdol speaks at the forum - Photo: VGP/Do Huong

Today, July 15, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment coordinated with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to organize the Inter-regional High-Level Forum on the OCOP model.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Tran Thanh Nam emphasized that today's Forum is a concrete result of the initiative of FAO Director-General Khuat Dong Ngoc, initiated during his visit to Vietnam in February 2025.

This event connected global and regional efforts to improve the effectiveness of implementing Vietnam's One Commune One Product (OCOP) Program, as well as FAO's global initiative, towards the common goal - "Four Better": Better Production, Better Nutrition, Better Environment and Better Life.

According to the leader of the Agriculture and Environment sector, Vietnam’s vision of OCOP is to build a sustainable, competitive and inclusive value chain, improving income and quality of life for people. OCOP is not only a brand but also an integrated model between the State, enterprises, cooperatives and communities in an ecosystem of innovation, capacity building, quality control, brand building and market connection.

By June 2025, the whole country had 16,855 OCOP products with 3 stars or more, of which 72.8% were 3-star products, 26.7% were 4-star products, and 126 were 5-star products. OCOP products meet quality and food safety standards and regulations; have diverse designs and packaging that are environmentally friendly, suitable for market requirements, thereby contributing to increasing value, helping entities increase production scale and revenue.

On that basis, Mr. Nam emphasized the establishment of a network and mechanism for sharing information on policies, technology and markets between countries between Vietnam and South Africa to support the sustainable development of OCOP products.

"To jointly develop the OCOP Program in line with FAO's 'Four Better' goals, countries need to strengthen cooperation in training and capacity building for managers, cooperatives, and small and medium-sized enterprises in rural areas, paying special attention to vulnerable groups such as women, the elderly, people with disabilities, and ethnic minorities...

Besides, I encourage piloting the public-private-community partnership model to mobilize financial resources, technical resources and indigenous knowledge to serve rural development and enhance the value of OCOP products," said the Deputy Minister.

For the first time, a knowledge exchange event between African countries and Vietnam on the OCOP program was held, opening up a new space for cooperation between developing countries in the field of sustainable agriculture.

Many products of Vietnam's OCOP have conquered international customers - Photo: VGP/Do Huong

With practical experience, Vietnam is becoming a bright spot in promoting connectivity between Vietnam and South Africa, sharing practices, technology and policies to enhance the value of rural products, towards the goal of "Four Better" for people, for the planet, for prosperity and for peace .

Praising Vietnam’s OCOP program, FAO Deputy Director-General Beth Bechdol emphasized that this initiative is not only a driving force for local economic development but also a foundation for a sustainable agricultural growth strategy. Diversifying products, increasing resilience and promoting knowledge sharing among countries are the keys for Asia and Africa to act together and move forward together.

In Asia and the Pacific, FAO offices are actively supporting the promotion of OCOP products, enhancing local capacity and bringing distinctive agricultural products to the global market. "OCOP is gradually becoming a strategic pillar in the development of the regional rural economy," Ms. Beth Bechdol affirmed.

Through the One Country One Product initiative (international version of OCOP), FAO is promoting the development of 56 typical agricultural products, contributing to improving people's livelihoods and promoting the potential, advantages and cultural values ​​of each locality. "We are committed to continuing to support African countries in the fight against hunger and malnutrition. Through tripartite cooperation, we can together turn challenges in Africa into development opportunities, together build a green, transparent and sustainable food network," FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu emphasized in the video message.

In Vietnam, the OCOP program has been implemented by the Government since 2018 with the goal of developing the rural economy on the basis of effectively exploiting the potential and specific advantages of each locality. The program encourages the spirit of autonomy and creativity of rural communities to create typical products with strong regional identity, while enhancing socio-economic value.

FAO is actively collaborating with leading science and innovation centres in the Asia-Pacific region to strengthen the value chain of specialty agricultural products (SAPs), thereby supporting the “four better” objectives. The result of this collaboration is the adoption of a pioneering environmental and geographic traceability tool to encourage sustainable SAP production.

At the same time, nutritional science and technology are supporting the development of SAP food products that suit a wide range of age groups and preferences, while market intelligence is helping Asia-Pacific countries integrate SAP into mainstream international markets.

Do Huong

Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/fao-danh-gia-cao-chuong-trinh-ocop-cua-viet-nam-102250715172639839.htm