Use of labour in handicraft village of La Phu in light of the open door policy

Abstract

The composition analyses the changes in the career structure and the use of labour in one of the most well-off handicraft villages in Ha Tay province. After over ten years of economic shift and integration into the market economy, the handicraft village of La Phu is in the process of becoming an industrial, commercial and service complex with high economic efficiency, thanks to the rational use of rural labour forces. 100% of the households in the village have turned into industries and handicraft manufacturing, but still keeping their farmland and hiring people to perform farming activities. With an economic system consisting of private companies, manufacturing complexes, small businesses and a satellite network, the handicraft village of La Phu uses effectively and flexibly about 15-16,000 labourers annually, and can meet the increasingly high demands of the modern international market concerning product quality, time of delivery, etc. This is an outstanding example of production organisation and use of rural labour in order to “move away from farming, but not move away from the countryside”.