After four years of implementation, the USAID Green Annamites project successfully achieved all of its key goals and organized a close-out workshop in Danang on November 25. During this event, four Public-Private-Community partnership agreements were signed between cooperatives, local communities, and enterprises: one valued at 1.6 billion VND ($69,200) to use the wild invasive plant called “Guot” to make handicrafts (e.g. flower vases, handbags, baskets, hats, etc.); the second agreement, valued at 10 million VND ($500), was signed to purchase environmentally-friendly handmade brocade products; the third is a 1.2 billion VND ($52,000) agreement to commercialize a small enterprise’s products and sell them through national and international channels, including Amazon; and the fourth agreement involves implementing a project to support the production and trading of rattan and has a state and community-mobilized budget of nearly 2 billion VND ($86,500).
So What? These commercial agreements underscore the effectiveness of the USAID Green Annamites project’s market-driven approach to generate new income opportunities for forest-dependent communities while promoting independent financing for sustainable, conservation-promoting enterprises. It also supports Vietnam’s improved governance of natural resources, in alignment with the Indo-Pacific Vision.