Concerns from Minh Duc carpentry village

The carpentry profession in Minh Duc village, Thanh Uyen, Hien Quan commune has existed for a long time, and was officially recognized as a craft village by the Provincial People's Committee in 2004. The products of the craft village are diverse, such as: beds, cabinets, tables and chairs, door frames, altars... which are beautifully crafted, meeting the needs of the people in the surrounding area, bringing a significant source of income to the local people. However, facing the current trend of craft village development, the people in Minh Duc still have some concerns.

Mr. Nguyen Van Tung's family in Zone 2 invested in modern machinery to produce household wooden furniture. After deducting expenses, they earn about 400 million VND in profit each year.

Minh Duc carpentry village currently has 76 households participating in the production of wooden products, mainly concentrated in area 2 with hundreds of workers regularly participating in production. Each year, the craft village brings tens of thousands of products to the market, bringing a stable income to the people, an average of 300 - 400 million VND/household/year. Thanks to the traditional profession, many families have become well-off, built spacious houses and have the conditions to invest in their children's education.

We visited Mr. Nguyen Van Tung's family in Zone 2 when he and his wife and 3 workers were diligently performing each production stage. Owning 2 production workshops with an area of ​​nearly 400m2, each year, his family provides consumers in the province with thousands of products, mainly altars, altars, tables and chairs, sofas, etc. With 10 years of experience in the profession, the wooden household products made by his workshop ensure quality and aesthetics. Mr. Tung shared: "Previously, wooden products were mainly produced by hand, with little support from machines. But with increasingly strict requirements from customers requiring speed, beauty, and durability, I invested in purchasing additional computerized carving machines to shorten the time to complete the product. After deducting expenses, my family still makes a profit of about 400 million VND each year."

To complete each product, it must go through 5-7 coats of paint, which affects the health of the worker.

In addition to the economic benefits, the villagers are also concerned about the degraded traffic system and environmental pollution. Going around the village, we felt the congestion when vehicles stopped to transport goods, which somewhat affected the circulation and travel of the people in the area. Ms. Quan Thi Thuy, a producer in the village, shared: "My family has specialized in painting for craft village products for 8 years, so the demand for transportation is very high. Meanwhile, the roads in the village are small and narrow, the road surface is damaged, peeling a lot, and there is no drainage system. Every time my family transports wood out, it often takes a lot of time and money. If the road is upgraded, the work will be much more convenient." The degraded road condition not only affects production but also poses a risk of accidents for people traveling.

The development of craft villages also entails air pollution arising from production stages. The process of sawing, cutting, and sanding wood creates a large amount of fine dust, directly affecting the health of workers and households living nearby. Noise from machinery, along with the smell of paint and varnish spreading to residential areas, somewhat affecting the daily lives of neighboring households. Realizing these shortcomings, Mr. Nguyen Van Liu, Head of Minh Duc carpentry village, has repeatedly proposed to the local government to arrange a separate land area for households to concentrate on the craft. "If there is a concentrated production area, we can invest in a dust, noise, and wastewater treatment system, both protecting the environment and improving production efficiency. People around will not be affected, and the craft village will also develop more sustainably," Mr. Liu shared.

Narrow and degraded craft village roads need investment, renovation, expansion to promote craft village development.

Along with the solution of production space, upgrading traffic infrastructure is also an urgent requirement. Expanding rural roads and renovating damaged roads will help reduce the load on vehicles, save transportation costs, and ensure safety for people. According to information from the People's Committee of Hien Quan commune, in October 2025, the People's Committee of the commune will implement the construction of the project to renovate and upgrade rural roads in area 2 with a total length of more than 1.1km to complete the rural traffic infrastructure, ensure convenience for travel and production, develop the local socio-economy, and improve people's lives. The encouraging sign is that immediately after the policy of expanding and upgrading the road around the craft village was issued, all people in the area agreed to donate land to widen the road surface.

Minh Duc carpentry village is at an important crossroads: between immediate economic benefits and long-term responsibility to protect the environment and public health. If solutions are implemented synchronously, the craft village will continue to develop, create jobs, and improve people's lives. Today's concern is an opportunity for the locality to innovate and modernize, while still preserving the long-standing traditional values ​​of carpentry, affirming the brand of Minh Duc carpentry village in the market.

Hong Nhung

Source: https://baophutho.vn/tran-tro-tu-lang-nghe-moc-minh-duc-240758.htm