Vietnam Rural Industries Research and Development Institute

Director Nguyen Bao Thoa

Welcome to the website of the Vietnam Rural Industries Research and Development Institute (VIRI) - a leading non-governmental organization established by the Ministry of Science and Technology of Vietnam to support for the sustainable development of rural industries in Vietnam.

Rural industries play a dominant role in programmes for rural development in Vietnam. The promotion of these industries leads to an improvement in social and economic conditions; and an overall balance of rural and urban industrial activities, which in turn, retards migration of labour from rural to urban areas.

It is a fact that most of the rural poor in Vietnam are involved in farming whose income is adversely affected by both global climate change and the volatility of the international free market forced upon developing nations. As a result, many families are forced to seek other means to suppliment their farming incomes. However they face extremely limited local opportunities such as seasonal labor for better-off farmers in lieu of migrating to the overcrowded cities for menial, low pay, labor-intensive jobs. Rural income diversification, particularly through local off-farm activities is where handicrafts have traditionally played a key role in rural areas. We believe the development of the rural industries can be utilized to improve the lives of rural farming communities, ethnic minorities with long histories in indigenous production, and for socially marginalized communities.

VIRI is committed to the sustainable development of rural industries in Vietnam. In doing so, we have been cooperating with Vietnamese and International organizations to study and implement a wide array of creative initiatives to encourage the development of community-driven local rural industries and other community development programmes and projects throughout Vietnam with a positive affect on many lives for generations.

Thank you for your interest in VIRI

Nguyen Bao Thoa
General Director