Passionate about traditional profession
Coming from a family with a traditional weaving profession in Phuoc Long district ( Bac Lieu province), since childhood, after school hours, Ms. Truong Thi Bach Thuy diligently weaved bamboo baskets to sell at the market on weekends. Because the products were skillfully woven and durable, they were popular with many people. After high school, she learned more about handicrafts and boldly applied to open a business selling bamboo products when she was only 17 years old.
“However, due to market fluctuations, woven products cannot compete with household items made from plastic. I had to leave the craft village and do other businesses to make a living. Although my life is stable, I always feel attached to my family’s traditional profession,” Thuy confided.
And then the opportunity came when consumers returned to bamboo products to protect the environment. Ms. Thuy returned to her hometown in Phu Tan commune (Chau Thanh district, Soc Trang province) to establish Thuy Tuyet Bamboo and Rattan Cooperative.
Ms. Thuy shared: Phu Tan has a traditional weaving village, with abundant human resources and high skills. However, people only operate on a small scale, do not know how to do business and develop the craft village. "The locality has available raw materials, just need to be skillful and creative to have unique handicraft products. Therefore, I established a cooperative to act as a bridge to build a chain of purchasing and consuming handicraft products for people in the area", Ms. Thuy added.
Understanding the market demand, Ms. Thuy produces woven products used to hold food, decorate or give as souvenirs, etc., which are very popular with domestic and foreign customers. Currently, the cooperative is a place to improve women's economic capacity and skills, creating stable jobs for 32 members and more than 60 women's association members in the surrounding area. Each household has an average income of 7 to 10 million VND/month from weaving, so everyone is very attached.
Ms. Tran Thi Phien in Phu Tan commune said: Previously, knitting large-sized products was both time-consuming and costly in materials. Since the cooperative has guided and purchased products, the work has become more convenient. Every day, she can knit about 6 small bamboo strips, and after deducting expenses, her income is over 100,000 VND.
Ms. Duong Thi Trang - Secretary of Phu Tan Commune Party Committee - informed: This is considered a good sign, because many bamboo weaving products born from the craft village are not only household products but also creative tourism products, inspiring, contributing to preserving and promoting the unique traditional cultural values of the nation.
Promoting local resources
Currently, Thuy Tuyet Bamboo and Rattan Cooperative has more than 600 products of all kinds, from household products, consumer goods, decorative products, tourism products to gifts... consumed domestically and exported to Switzerland, Laos and European countries. Revenue in 2022 reached 12 billion VND.
According to Ms. Thuy, currently the craft village has 90% of workers who are Khmer ethnic people. Along with the advantage of having many skilled workers in the craft village in Soc Trang, the cooperative also develops and applies bamboo to the construction of architectural works to promote the value and cultural identity of the Vietnamese people.
“The cooperative consumes an average of 200 tons of bamboo per year and purchases raw materials as well as woven products from farmers. In the coming time, we will focus on training skills and business knowledge for farmers to exploit the values of local resources, thereby increasing income for people in the region,” Ms. Thuy added.
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