Sustainable rural development in Vietnam: experience from Japan “one village one product” (OVOP) and Thailand “one tampon one product” (OTOP)

Abstract

OVOP (One Village One Product) movement in Japan is considered as a way of reinforcing local communities’ entrepreneurial skills by employing local assets and knowledge, establishing value adding accomplishments, and forming human resources in the local economy. This movement has been transferred into Asian countries and to other developing areas. During these transfers, it has evolved and become different forms such as OTOP (One Tampon One Product) in Thailand and OVOC (One Village One Craft) in Vietnam. However, not all the replicated OVOP models are successful. This study attempts to investigate different approaches in rural development policy such as endogenous and exogenous development or “bottom-up” and “top-down” through comparative analysis of Japan OVOP movement and Thailand OTOP. This qualitative study utilizes documentary research to identify important factors having impact on the success of sustainable rural development and comparative analysis to provide critical analysis of developing two movements in different countries. The study indicates that in order to reach the level of success as the origin OVOP movement, endogenous development strategy with ‘bottom-up’ approach should be emphasized, along with the support of exogenous factors.