Creating momentum for Bac Lieu's salt industry to 'take off'

The Vietnam Salt Festival - Bac Lieu 2025 is not only a cultural event but also an important opportunity to honor and develop the traditional salt industry.

An opportunity to promote the Bac Lieu salt brand.

The Vietnam Salt Festival - Bac Lieu 2025, themed “Enhancing the Value of Vietnamese Salt,” will take place from March 6-8, 2025. This event, organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in collaboration with the People's Committee of Bac Lieu province, will feature approximately 100 booths showcasing and introducing salt products, OCOP products, and modern salt processing equipment and technology.

With a history spanning over 100 years of salt production, Bac Lieu is striving to develop its salt industry sustainably, increase product value, and expand its consumer market. This presents an opportunity for the province to promote the Bac Lieu salt brand, attract investment, and affirm the position of the salt industry on Vietnam's economic map.

The Vietnam Salt Production Festival - Bac Lieu 2025 is expected to help the salt production industry "take off". (Illustrative image)

Bac Lieu is one of the provinces with the largest salt production area in the country, with salt quality highly regarded thanks to favorable natural conditions. However, the reality shows that the salt industry still faces many challenges, from volatile prices to competition with imported salt. Salt consumption still mainly depends on traders, and there are not many cooperatives or businesses investing in deep processing to increase the value of the product.

Therefore, the Vietnam Salt Festival - Bac Lieu 2025 is organized to honor the salt-making profession, and at the same time, to provide an opportunity for businesses, cooperatives, and salt farmers to promote their brands and seek cooperation partners. According to provincial leaders, this event will help enhance the value of local salt products, aiming to build a brand of clean and organic salt and expand domestic and export markets.

Mr. Pham Van Thieu, Chairman of the People's Committee of Bac Lieu province, stated: “ The Salt Festival is an important event with strategic significance for the sustainable development of the salt-making industry. It is an opportunity to honor the traditional salt-making craft of the locality, contributing to the preservation of the craft, developing and promoting culture and tourism, and enhancing the status of Bac Lieu's salt industry. At the same time, it honors, preserves, and develops the traditional salt-making craft, increases the value of salt, and thereby rekindles the love for this traditional craft among generations .”

Opportunities for trade and tourism development

Within the framework of the Festival, approximately 100 booths will be set up, showcasing a diverse range of salt products, advanced production equipment, and models combining salt production with experiential tourism. This is an opportunity for businesses, cooperatives, and salt farmers to access new technologies, seek cooperation partners, and improve production quality in a modern and sustainable direction.

In addition, specialized workshops will be organized, focusing on solutions to improve product quality, adapt to climate change, and expand consumer markets. One of the important activities is the workshop "Orientation and Solutions for Developing Bac Lieu Salt Tourism Products," aiming to exploit the tourism potential associated with salt production, thereby increasing economic value and creating more livelihoods for the people.

Many salt products from Bac Lieu are popular with consumers.

The highlight of the event is the Bac Lieu 2025 Trade Promotion Fair for Collective Economic Zones and Cooperatives, where businesses and cooperatives have the opportunity to showcase their products, seek partners, and develop the salt industry value chain. In addition, visitors can participate in hands-on tours of the Bac Lieu salt fields, witness the traditional salt-making process firsthand, and interact with salt farmers.

In addition, the art program "Come to Bac Lieu to listen to traditional Southern Vietnamese music" will create a cultural space rich in Southern Vietnamese character, helping to promote the image of the locality to domestic and international tourists.

Towards sustainable development of the salt industry.

One of the key objectives of the Vietnam Salt Festival - Bac Lieu 2025 is to promote the transformation of salt production models towards modernity and sustainability. In the context of climate change and increasingly fierce competition in the salt market, the application of advanced technology in production is essential to improve productivity and quality.

Mr. Pham Van Thieu, Chairman of the People's Committee of Bac Lieu province, said that the province is implementing many strategies to develop the salt industry.

According to Mr. Pham Van Thieu, Chairman of the People's Committee of Bac Lieu province, in order to develop Bac Lieu's salt industry sustainably, adapt to climate change conditions, and create breakthroughs in the coming years, the province will implement several plans and strategies such as strengthening the introduction and promotion of Bac Lieu's salt industry through images and stories about salt making; introducing and promoting Bac Lieu salt products on e-commerce channels, forums, fairs, and conferences.

Bac Lieu province also encourages and supports salt farmers to switch to the tarpaulin method, which helps shorten the salt crystallization time, reduce impurities, and improve the whiteness and purity of the salt. In addition, the province aims to diversify salt products, not only focusing on ordinary table salt but also expanding to value-added products such as medicinal salt, bath salt, and high-end food preservation salt, contributing to increasing the value of the local salt industry.

To increase salt farmers' income and enhance the salt industry's standing, the province is also promoting the linkage of the salt production-processing-consumption value chain. Specifically, salt cooperatives will be supported in signing long-term consumption contracts with businesses, helping to ensure stable output. Simultaneously, the province is integrating the development of craft village tourism, transforming vast salt fields into attractions and providing hands-on experiences for tourists. Community tourism models combining salt production and health care using sea salt will be invested in to both preserve the traditional craft and bring sustainable economic value.

To develop the salt industry in Bac Lieu in a systematic way, the province has implemented many policies to support salt farmers and businesses, such as upgrading salt field infrastructure, improving transportation and irrigation systems to serve production and transportation. At the same time, the province supports the commercialization of products, helping salt products achieve OCOP 5-star certification, and promoting consumption through e-commerce channels, supermarkets, and exports.

The Vietnam Salt Festival - Bac Lieu 2025 is scheduled to take place from March 6-8 in Dong Hai district and Bac Lieu city. The opening ceremony will be held at 8 PM on March 6th at Hung Vuong Square (Bac Lieu city). The event, costing approximately 15 billion VND, is being funded through social mobilization by Bac Lieu province, without using state budget funds.

Source: https://congthuong.vn/tao-da-de-nghe-muoi-bac-lieu-cat-canh-374583.html