(HBO) – The People’s Committee of Hoa Binh province held an agricultural and OCOP (one commune-one product) trade fair of the northern mountainous and midland region in November. The fair attracted the participation of many businesses and producers from 19 provinces and cities, with 232 booths. It offered a good chance for cooperatives and enterprises to connect and expand consumption markets for their products.
Booth showcasing conical hats of Hanoi's Chuong village draws attention of visitors.
Participating in the fair, enterprises, farms, production facilities in the region and consumers could exchange and deal directly with traders and processors of agro-forestry products throughout the country, thus contributing to disseminating and responding to the "Vietnamese people prioritise made-in-Vietnam goods" programme.
In addition, the fair also helped popularise and promote the development of agricultural products in general and OCOP products in particular, seek opportunities for regional linkages between localities, and further develop the agricultural sector.
Currently, Hoa Binh province has 123 three- to four-star OCOP products. Participating in the fair, localities and production units in the province introduced their organic and OCOP products such as Cao Phong orange, Tan Lac red-flesh pomelo, indigenous chicken, purple sugarcane, organic vegetables, caged fish in Da river lake, and Kim Boi bamboo shoots.
In addition to the promotion of developing the OCOP Programme for the 2022 – 2025 period, with a vision to 2030 for localities in the region, the fair also contributed to supporting farmers, businesses, and cooperatives in the northern mountainous and midland region in boosting linkages for agricultural product consumption, and branding.
Do Duc Truong, Director of the provincial Agricultural Encouragement Centre, said that with 232 stalls, including 102 standard ones showcasing OCOP products, agricultural products and handicrafts of localities in Hoa Binh province and 18 northern provinces and cities, the products were assessed to have high quality, and diverse and eye-catching designs. The fair was a great success, bringing about effective results. In five days, it attracted 100,000 visitors./.
According to data from the Hoa Binh Provincial Party Committee, the industrial production index for the first six months of 2025 is estimated to have increased by 20% compared to the same period last year. This marks the highest year-on-year growth rate for this period since 2020.
In the first six months of 2025, Hoa Binh province’s export turnover was estimated at 1.145 billion USD, marking an 18.11% increase compared to the same period in 2024. Import turnover was estimated at $ 804 million, a 17.15% increase, which helped the province maintain a positive trade balance.
The lives of the ethnic minority farmers in Tan Lac district have gradually improved thanks to the new directions in agricultural production. This is a testament to the collective strength fostered through the professional associations and groups implemented by various levels of the district’s Farmers’ Union.
With the motto the "product quality comes first,” after nearly one year of establishment and operation, Muong village’s Clean Food Agricultural and Commercial Cooperative, located in Cau Hamlet, Hung Son Commune (Kim Boi district), has launched reputable, high-quality agricultural products to the market that are well-received by consumers. The products such as Muong village’s pork sausage, salt-cured chicken, and salt-cured pork hocks have gradually carved out a place in the market and they are on the path to obtaining the OCOP certification.
In the past, the phrase "bumper harvest, rock-bottom prices" was a familiar refrain for Vietnamese farmers engaged in fragmented, small-scale agriculture. But today, a new spirit is emerging across rural areas of Hoa Binh province - one of collaboration, organisation, and collective economic models that provide a stable foundation for production.
Maintaining growing area codes and packing facility codes in accordance with regulations is a mandatory requirement for agricultural products to be eligible for export. Recently, the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Hoa Binh province has intensified technical supervision of designated farming areas and packing facilities to safeguard the "green passport" that enables its products to access international markets.