The 3rd Buon Ma Thuat Coffee Festival - 2011 will officially open in Buon Ma Thuot city in Central Highland province of Dak Lak in March. The festival this time is considered to be a good chance to advertise and raise the status of the province’s agricultural products and tourism services in the international market, particularly the major product of coffee. Buon Ma Thuat coffee product has been recognized the geographical origin by the Ministry of Science and Technology.
On the threshold of the festival, reporter of the Vietnam Business Forum made an interview with Mr. Y Dhăm E Nuoi, head of the organization board, about preparations for the event.
Could you tell us major programs of the Buon Ma Thuat Coffee Festival 2011?
With a large investment and careful preparations, the 3rd festival will have many differences with the previous ones. The biggest difference this time is a professional trade fair on coffee and relating products such as coffee nuts, processed coffee, other products using coffee spice; fine arts and handicraft products made from coffee trees; production lines, processing machines, fertilizers and pesticides. In addition, there will have an international conference on sustainable production and consumption of coffee and development of the trademark of Buon Ma Thuot coffee; programs of enjoying coffee free of charge and cultural activities.
In term of the festival time, the two previous events were both held in December while the festival this year will take place in March when the weather is considered to be most beautiful in the year and coffee trees are blossoming. Based on the result from the two previous festivals, this year Dak Lak province has planned to bring the Buon Ma Thuot coffee festival in an international event, step by step marking the status of Vietnam’s coffee in general and Buon Ma Thuat in particular.
The festival’s purpose is aimed not only at economic effect but also at the connection between producers and investors. Have the two previous festivals gained the purpose?
Through the two previous festivals, the awareness of coffee growers and enterprises as well as the whole society have been raised, particularly in the sustainable development of coffee tree in accordance with the provincial party committee and people’s council’s resolutions. Under these resolutions, enterprises have signed contracts with farmers to build material regions and set up the sustainable production process from selecting seeds, cultivation land to growing, caring and harvesting; from processing in connection with environment protection to advertisement of products.
The purpose of setting up relationship between producers and investors is also whish of the local authority. Through promotion activities of the Buon Ma Thuat coffee festival, many investors at home and abroad have gone to study business opportunities in Dak Lak. A number of domestic and foreign investors have built coffee processing plants for export. Recently a foreign investor has built a instant coffee production plant with large capacity in the province. Obviously, the purpose of advertisement and attraction of investments into the province’s coffee industry has gained initial achievements. In my opinion, the purpose will be boosted further and gained more achievements in the upcoming time.
What do you think about the importance of the 2011 Buon Ma Thuat coffee festival to the development of Dak Lak coffee trademark in particular and that of Vietnam in general?
Through the coffee festival, Dak Lak province and coffee lovers in Vietnam wish to send a message “Green diplomacy – coffee diplomacy” to the world, in a bid to bring coffee become a cultural symbol of national diplomacy and a special language to connect people around the world.
The Buon Ma Thuat coffee festival is an occasion to introduce Vietnamese’ coffee culture to international friends in order to narrow gaps. In order to advertise deeply the trademark of Buon Ma Thuat coffee, the province has also set up the Buon Ma Thuat coffee association which is charged of managing and develop the geographical trademark of Buon Ma Thuot n the domestic and international markets.
Through organizing the festival, we also want to encourage consumers at home and abroad to support the sustainable development of coffee industry, raise the awareness of exploiting and developing coffee trees in a manner suitable to the ecological environment. The festival is also a chance to promote investment and tourism of the central highlands locality, bringing Buon Ma Thuat city into a center of culture and tourism , improving the value and importance of Vietnamese coffee and building the national trademarks for products.
Lam Xung
Vietnamese
