Last year, an ex-military serviceman launched a handicraft workshop, which provided part-time jobs to peoples in costal area of Hau Loc in central Thanh Hoa Province.
When Pham Thanh Hoi saw abundance of water hyacinth in the region, he decided to start this workshop to provide employment for himself and others in the region.
He started to make handicraft products such as baskets from water hyacinth and provided hundreds of part-time jobs from the time when workshop was launched.
Additional profit of between VND15,000 and VND18,000 is generated by workshop participants each day.
Now locals do farming during the wet season, while makeing baskets after harvest time.
At present, number of members reached 300, which may increase in future.