A wide range of home décor and gift products are on display at the 2017 Lifestyle Vietnam, which will run at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre from April 18 to 21. — VNS Photo Xuan Huong

The International Viet Nam Home Decor and Gifts Fair (Lifestyle Vietnam 2017) opened on April 18 in HCM City with 800 booths set up by Vietnamese exporters, foreign companies in Viet Nam and exhibitors from Laos, Taiwan, Japan, Cambodia, Myanmar and other countries.

On at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre in District 7 and to run until April 21, the annual event is expected to attract 2,000 importers of home decor items and gifts from 30 countries and territories, including from Japan, the US, Australia, and Europe, according to the Viet Nam Handicraft Exporters Association (Vietcraft).

The fair helps local exporters, particularly handicrafts makers, connect with new buyers and create new business relations, it said.

Another fair, the 2017 Vietnam Craft Village Fair, which seeks to help traditional craft villages and industries nation-wide promote their products and brands and expand their markets, opened on April 17 at the Gia Định Park in HCM City’s Tan Bình District.

Organised by the Viet Nam Association of Craft Villages, the fair features 350 booths, 200 of them displaying handicrafts like wood sculpture, pottery and ceramic and local specialties like Ly Son garlic, Tan Trieu grapefruit and Thai Nguyen tea.

Nguyen Huu Phuoc, deputy chairman of the association, said Viet Nam is home to more than 5,400 craft villages, including 1,864 traditional craft villages, which employ 11 million people.

Products from craft villages, especially those made from wood, rattan and bamboo, are exported to over 160 countries and territories, he added.

To run until April 23, the fair is expected to help enterprises expand into markets with high demand for craft products such as the US, EU, Japan, South Korea, and the ASEAN Economic Community. — VNS