It has not yet been recognized as a traditional craft village.

VHO - Mr. Nguyen Ha Bac, Secretary of the Lien Chieu District Party Committee ( Da Nang ), said that the locality has a plan to soon complete the procedures and planning for the certification of Nam O fish sauce village in the area in 2025.

This issue has recently been raised by the public at the end of the year, in preparation for the Lunar New Year of the Snake, stemming from the thoughts and aspirations of the people of Nam O village (Da Nang) after nearly 6 years since the traditional fish sauce making craft there was recognized and included in the list of National Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Why hasn't Nam O been recognized as a " traditional craft village" yet ?

Speaking with Văn Hóa (Culture) magazine , Mr. Nguyễn Hà Bắc explained that there have been opinions and observations regarding the activities of the Nam Ô fish sauce making village in recent times, with the view that it is necessary to soon have this village certified as a traditional craft village in the local socio-economic development investment plan, creating conditions for the villagers to promote the economic value of production from the craft village.

The people of Nam O village joyfully received the certificate recognizing it as an Intangible Cultural Heritage.

However, due to inadequate access to information, public opinion is making subjective assessments that do not accurately reflect the management and certification process of craft villages.

Logically, many people believe that, in order to complete the dossier for recognition as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage, a craft village must first be recognized. However, in reality, the positioning and planning of a craft village must ensure that it meets all the necessary management, assessment, and organizational requirements before it can be officially certified as a craft village.

In fact, on August 27, 2019, the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism issued Decision No. 2974 recognizing the traditional craft of making Nam O fish sauce as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage. This is the result of more than two years of campaigning and preparing the heritage registration dossier, based on the history of fish sauce making in Nam O village over many years.

The history of this village has been closely linked to fishing and fish sauce making for hundreds of years, and the unique characteristics of its products and the distinctive fish sauce making craft have met the criteria for the Ministry of Culture to recognize it as an intangible cultural heritage.

For many years, the people of Nam O have preserved and developed the traditional fish sauce making craft.

After being recognized as a cultural heritage site, the Nam O fish sauce making village was included by the local authorities (Lien Chieu district) in the list of traditional villages requiring investment for preservation and development. Accordingly, relevant agencies and departments have planned to implement procedures and investment requirements to confirm the village's planning.

The basic criteria for defining this craft village include identifying the characteristic product, obtaining protection certificates, establishing the Nam O geographical indication for fish sauce produced in the village, along with indicators for surveying and evaluating production volume, product quality, and production scale in the village, and ultimately completing the planning for craft village areas, such as concentrated production zones and product demonstration areas.

Mr. Nguyen Ha Bac shared that this implementation was not simple and took a considerable amount of time. Fundamentally, it required the consensus and cooperation of the local community, taking into account the actual operations of households producing Nam O brand fish sauce in the craft village… Although preliminary investigations showed that nearly 90 households in the village were involved in the fish sauce business, only about 52 households actually followed the correct production processes and standards, and the production processes also varied.

Therefore, it wasn't until June 2024 that Da Nang completed and was granted geographical indication protection for "Nam O" fish sauce. A representative from the Intellectual Property Office stated that it took two years to complete the registration process for this geographical indication protection for the traditional craft village.

Therefore, it is clear that after the application for Intangible Cultural Heritage certification, the Nam O fish sauce craft village product must go through the process of demonstrating investment and ensuring proper planning before it can be certified as a traditional craft village.

There 's still a lot of work to be done!

Responding to public concerns about the progress of certifying Nam O fish sauce village, Mr. Nguyen Ha Bac affirmed that there is still much work to be done in determining the planning and organizing production in the village.

Besides production activities, Nam O village also maintains cultural activities and rituals of the coastal region.

First and foremost, craft villages must now accurately count the number of households engaged in the craft. Local authorities and management at all levels are currently undertaking this task. This is based on statistical data and practical surveys, taking into account households with a history spanning multiple generations, rather than simply counting household registrations in the craft village and reports from local craft associations.

Secondly, the craft village currently lacks land for centralized production, and there is no area for demonstrating and showcasing the essence of fish sauce making. Villagers mainly produce within the cramped confines of their own homes, failing to meet food safety and hygiene standards, and ensuring a proper production and processing environment.

Mr. Nguyen Ha Bac stated that, after numerous meetings, the local authorities plan to select a location for the concentrated production of Nam O fish sauce in the Hoa Khanh Nam industrial cluster and several other planned industrial cluster locations, to ensure a quarantined environment and sufficient production area for large-scale output…

The exhibition area showcasing traditional craft products was chosen right next to the craft village grounds, bordering Nguyen Tat Thanh road. The location for the demonstration area showcasing the essence of traditional crafts, combined with tourism activities, was also chosen from the planned site of Trieu Thi Trinh Primary School within the Nam O village grounds, relocating the school to a new, more spacious and modern location.

“We are actively promoting these planning and investment arrangements, and especially conducting consultations and gathering consensus and cooperation from the people of Nam O, in order to soon complete the criteria and requirements for the craft village planning. We believe that in 2025, the process will proceed smoothly, and the Nam O fish sauce village will soon receive traditional craft village certification, thereby truly creating good opportunities for people to produce and honoring the craft village brand,” Mr. Nguyen Ha Bac emphasized.

Source: https://baovanhoa.vn/van-hoa/van-chua-duoc-cong-nhan-lang-nghe-118130.html