In recent years, Hue Lai village, Phu Ung commune, An Thi province (Hung Yen) has made significant economic progress. Thanks to development of Hue Lai silver carving village, socio-economic growth in the area has become stable. Farming organization of the commune takes an important role in communication as well as assists farmers in borrowing money to develop Hue Lai silver carving village that offers rewarding jobs today....

In recent years, Hue Lai village, Phu Ung commune, An Thi province (Hung Yen) has made significant economic progress. Thanks to development of Hue Lai silver carving village, socio-economic growth in the area has become stable. Farming organization of the commune takes an important role in communication as well as assists farmers in borrowing money to develop Hue Lai silver carving village that offers rewarding jobs today.

 Hue Lai village has 95% of the population living on agriculture and still confronts many difficulties.  However, this job has offered considerable income and employment to households and gradually eliminated poverty in the commune.

 Hue Lai carving village is about 20 years old.  In the early 90s, jewellery job was strange to locals since a Hue Lai villager brought it to the village during the working time in Chau Khe, Thuc Khang, Binh Giang, Hai Duong with the aim at making more earnings to his family between crops intervals. At first, there were only 3 to 4 learning this job and then conveying skills to others. For years, the number of households and employees has been increasing. In 1995, there were 42 out of 238 households with 170 laborers doing this job. Currently, 70% of households accounting for 249 out of 357 households with over 1,000 laborers takes this job as their main occupation The average revenue of Hue Lai craft village is 20 billion per year.

 During the process of development and stable production, the farming organization of the commune has encouraged farmers, laborers to maintain this job as well as build up value of the craft village, produce high quality outcomes, keep credibility and ensure labor safety and environment protection. 30% of agriculture households is guaranteed to make loan by the Farming organization with total 5 billion VND for investment and manufacturing.

          In order to have a prosperous village as today, craftsmen have overcome hard times. At first, they had to face with market mechanisms as well as maintain credibility, get along with market trends that is a deciding step towards the sustainable growth of the craft village. Previously, products of this village were mainly consumed in Hai Duong, Hai Phong. Now the consumption has expanded to the majority of cities nationwide. Thanks to this expansion, products are sold out upon production and less likely to be stagnant. Apart from processing orders, the craftsmen also advance to new models, high quality products that are popular in domestic market. Thus, the income of the craftsmen is between VND 1.5 million / capita/ month to VND 2.5 million / capita/ month. The clever craftsmen earn from VND 3.5 million to 4.5 million /capita/month.

 This job is demanding. It not only requires hardworking craftsmen but also clever hands to carve delicate decoration on the silver and gold products. The artisans must be patient and calm in all steps. To become a master in this job and meet expectations from customers, the artisan must be hardworking, creative and have aptitude in carving in order to stay long with the profession.

 According to Mr. Do Xuan Chuyen who is the chairman of the cooperative  and the founder of this craft village, The cooperative was established in 1998 with the charter capital of 30 million VND to summon labors and seek customers for the products. “ It is the first step that counts”. Due to lack of capital and consumption, the cooperative confronted many difficulties at the early stage. Accordingly, the cooperative figured out the strategies to seek markets, which was handled by 10 marketing staff. With the appropriate strategic development, up till now the cooperative has drawn 42 households to participate in. This is a sound success for a small cooperative after 7 years of operation whose members are all farmers. The cooperative creates jobs for laborers and poor households. Up till now, the capital of the cooperative has reached VND 9 to 10 billion and maintained employment for locals and households. The typical households in the craft village are Mr. Nguyen Xuan Chuyen, Mr. Pham Ngoc Qua, Mr. Pham Van Dinh who have earned the average income from VND 80 to 100 million per year. Each household also pays stable income to 20 employees. In addition, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Chuyen opened 2 gold and silver stores in Mai Son (Son La) and Yen Hung (Quang Ninh) In order to reduce manual steps in manufacturing, some households purchase machine to lower efforts and enhance productivity.  Along with the advantage in market and product consumption, Hue Lai craft village is facing with obstacles in capital and high interest rate. Authorities issued assistance policy to keep the sustainable development for this profession. The processing of silver is simpler than gold’s. Given that silver products have become the popular jewellery, they are processed more sophisticatedly with abundant gorgeous models.  The capital for production is not so big; however, the hardest thing is production expansion.   In the development vision of the cooperative, some issues must be taken into consideration such as capital increase, production expansion, market seeking, credibility protection, quality enhancement and product verification. In the coming time, a centralized craft village will be established for handicraft development. Once it is approved, the cooperative will move to this center for the purpose of product expansion and removal of current environmental pollution in the small craft villages. The cooperative not only draws a large number of labors but also hold training for people of other areas in order to increase residents’ income and preserve a traditional handicraft. Thanks to the advance of Hue Lai people, Hue Lai silver carving village was awarded the certificate "Hue Lai silver and gold craft village” by People’s Committee of Hung Yen province. It is expected that Hue Lai village will continue its sustainable development as well as create employment, increase income for locals and make great contribution to poverty elimination in Hung Yen province.