Ben Tre (VNA) - Craft workers in thesouthern province of Ben Tre - the "land of coconuts" - have createda variety of unique souvenirs for tourists from the fibre surrounding thefruit. Their latest creation is fibre hats, the idea of Nguyen Phuc Sang, astudent at the Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics and Finance.

“My home town produces a huge amount of coconutfibre. However, as a raw material, it is not worth much," Sangsaid. "To produce a kilogram of coconut fibre is hard work and theendless task can affect the health of workers. Therefore we try to createproducts from it rather than selling it for next to nothing."

Sang’s family makes its living mainly fromproducing souvenirs from coconuts. The idea of a coconut-fibre hat flashed intoSang’s mind during school holidays when he returned home to help his parentstransport the goods.

“I accidentally dropped a plant pot madefrom coconut fibre onto the floor, and realised that it looked exactlylike a hat without a brim," Sang said. 

He thought of inventing a coconut fibre hat, butconcluded it was "mission impossible" because the fibre is difficultto stabilise with glue, making it itchy. Step by step he figured out ways tominimise the drawbacks. One of them was to make a special glue that can bondall the fibres at high temperature.

Sang encountered many obstacles. First, he stillhad to attend school and do a part-time job. He also had little experience atdeciding on manufacturing processes. The lack of specialised machinery madethings difficult, so Sang created the hats manually, learning as he went byreferring to the internet.

Sang said the hats go through many stages,including drying, pressing and decorating. “Every stage is important. If one isnot done on time, quality goes down,” he said, adding that it normally takeshim about 20 minutes to make a hat.

After several days of trial and error, Sangsucceeded in making his first coconut-fibre hat. Feedback from his relativesand friends has helped him improve quality day by day.

“My product is unique because it is the firsthat made from pressed coconut fibre. The hats are also water-proof,” he said."I have already registered a patent for my creation.” 

Sang’s creative work recently won first prize inthe Business Ideas competition held by the HCM City University of Economics andFinance, and third position in a similar competition for students fromdifferent universities hosted by Van Hien University.

His coconut fibre hat has also been included inthe top 100 business start-ups nationwide.

According to the deputy head of department ofbusiness administration at the university, Nhan Cam Tri, the utilisation ofcheap and eco-friendly material made Sang’s product competitive.

“The hat is a new and unique product. The costof production is reasonable, so its introduction to the market is mucheasier," he said.

Sang’s business idea has received offers fromfour enterprises in HCM City at the competition. Tran Huu Doan, director ofViet Sin Food Joint Stock Company, decided to support the young creator byproviding consultation on project development and investment.

“In the first phrase, I am targeting the localtourism market,” Sang said. “In the future, I will aim at theinternational market. The first coconut-fibre hats will be introduced to themarket by the end of this year."-VNA