Nguyen Van Khai, member of the provincial Party Committee and Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

This is one of the programmes expected to make breakthroughs for village products. Around this issue, reporters from Bac Giang Newspaper interviewed Nguyen Van Khai, member of the provincial Party Committee and Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Could you please tell us the meaning of the conference to be held in Bac Giang this time?

"One Commune One Product" (OCOP) is an economic development programme in rural areas in the direction of promoting internal strength and increasing value. With that meaning, on May 7, 2018, the Prime Minister approved the "OCOP Programme in the 2018-2020 period". Bac Giang has been selected to organize a national conference on this programme. The conference is to help cities and provinces across the country implement the OCOP Programme effectively, ensuring the development of quality products in accordance with standards and changing backward production practices towards goods production.

Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Bui Van Hai participates in the OCOP festival in Luc Ngan district in 2017.

What has Bac Giang province achieved in implementing the OCOP Programme?

After the decision of the Prime Minister was issued, Bac Giang has been urgently deploying the programme. The agricultural sector coordinated with relevant units in surveying and collecting data in more than 1,300 business establishments and households. From the data collected, the province issued the OCOP Programme Scheme in 2018-2020, with the orientation to 2030.

Accordingly, in the 2018-2020 period, Bac Giang strives to standardize at least 50 percent of the existing products, focusing on key, special and potential products of the province. Between 2021 and 2030, the province will reinforce the gains and develop six venues displaying and selling OCOP products in association with tourism activities in Son Dong, Luc Ngan, Luc Nam, Yen The, Yen Dung and Viet Yen districts.

Fish harvesting in Nghia Trung commune (Viet Yen district).

As we know, Bac Giang is the locality that early approved the OCOP Programme Scheme. Could you share the scheme development experience?

The development of the scheme was not a simple job, requiring the involvement of the entire political system. The most important stage of the scheme development was surveying, collecting data, assessing the development of products and forecasting affecting factors. This is a foundation for defining specific objectives and giving out the best solutions when implementing the scheme.

In order to effectively carry out the OCOP Programme Scheme, what measures will Bac Giang focus on in the coming time?

Before the province promulgated the OCOP Programme Scheme, Luc Nam and Tan Yen districts held OCOP festivals at the end of 2017, attracting a large number of visitors. During the organization process in these districts, we have drawn some experience. Based on the scheme approved by the provincial People's Committee, districts and Bac Giang city will continue to implement the programme. In the short term, they will choose products that near the set standards to include in the OCOP Programme.

Farmers in Tan Quang commune (Luc Ngan district) earn high income from Vinh orange orchard.

Along with that, the agricultural sector will advise the province to issue appropriate mechanisms and policies to standardize OCOP products. The products will be developed from low to high level and gradually improved.

In addition, attention must be paid to encouraging the development of cooperatives, small and medium enterprises applying science and technology in production and operation under the value chain, especially in the current period. In the long run, it is necessary to build products with national-, provincial- and district-level brands, aiming to ensure products meet the standards of Vietnam and step by step access international standards toward export.

Thank you very much!

Trinh Lan