On 7 January 2026, at the 2025 OCOP Product Certification Ceremony, the Rural Development Sub-department under the Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) Department of Agriculture and Environment announced its target to register at least 163 new products for the One Commune One Product (OCOP) programme in 2026.

According to Mr. Vo Ngoc Dang, Head of the Rural Development Sub-department, HCMC has developed more than 1,000 OCOP products from 416 enterprises. While no five-star OCOP products have been recognised to date, 220 products have achieved four-star ratings. He noted that many producers continue to face constraints in management capacity, production scale, and the stability of input materials, limiting their ability to meet the standards of modern retail systems. In addition, despite satisfactory product quality, weak brand recognition remains a major barrier to market expansion and wider distribution.

To address these challenges, HCMC is strengthening support for OCOP producers through measures aimed at improving production capacity, ensuring food safety, reinforcing value-chain linkages, and promoting brand development. Priority is being given to high-value and deeply processed products that comply with recognised standards such as organic certification, GlobalGAP, and VietGAP, to strengthen overall competitiveness. Trade promotion activities, including fairs and exhibitions, continue to play a crucial role in raising market awareness of OCOP products.

In 2025, HCMC officially recognised 45 OCOP products, comprising 19 four-star and 26 three-star items. This outcome provides an important foundation for future expansion and quality upgrading. The city’s OCOP programme will emphasise quality over quantity, focusing on key product groups, deep processing, organic production, improved packaging, and market development to ensure sustainable growth.

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Reference: Vietnam News, 8 January 2026

https://vietnamnews.vn/economy/1763316/hcm-city-moves-to-develop-markets-for-ocop-products.html