Workers making girdle cake in Phu Hoa Dong Village in Cu Chi District.
It is one of 13 traditional villages in HCM City to be preserved and developed by 2018. 

The department's deputy director, Le Hong Hoanh, said the plans were submitted recently to the People's Committee for consideration.

The city has 19 craft villages of which these 13 are the oldest and have the largest number of craftspeople, she said.

They include the Thai My knitting village and Phu Hoa Dong girdle cake village in Cu Chi District; the Binh Loi flower and ornamental plant village and the Le Minh Xuan incense making village in Binh Chanh District; the Quy Nhon salt village in Can Gio District; the Xuan Thoi traditional mat weaving village in Hoc Mon District; and the ornamental flower village in Go Vap District.

Work to keep the 13 villages going would be done between 2013 and 2015, Hoanh said. It includes restoring one village whose craft is in danger of disappearing and preserving six others.

After 2015 promotional activities would be undertaken and more outlets would be found for the villages' products to make them sustainable. City Deputy Chairman Le Minh Tri, while agreeing with the need to preserve and develop craft villages, did not approve of the department's plan, saying 13 were too many and would spread the resources too thin.

He also wanted the department to spell out which villages would be developed for economic purposes and which for cultural purposes.

"This classification will enable the city government to provide proper support policies to ensure effectiveness in each case," he said.

The preservation and development of craft villages should be done in such a way that they operate like companies and not household business as at present, he said.

The plan should also focus on developing new craft villages, he said, pointing out that this would enable official agencies to manage, protect the environment, and mobilise all resources.

Studying the demand for training at traditional craft villages was key to having an effective training programme to ensure supply of human sources for preservation and development.

Some 4,497 households with 13,400 members take part in production activities at the 19 craft villages.

VNS