The provincial Department of Industry and Trade and relevant agencies launched the E-commerce Commune-Cho Lach Rising initiative on August 17 as a pilot programme aimed at promoting digital commerce in rural areas.
Tran Quoc Tuan, director of the department, said Cho Lach was well known for seedlings, ornamental flowers, fruit, OCOP products and traditional craft villages, giving it strong potential to expand sales online.
He said the initiative was intended to build sustainable digital business capabilities rather than simply create online stores or organise livestream sales.
In the first phase, around 80 businesses, household businesses and content creators will receive intensive training. A TikTok channel named “Cho Lach Rising” will also be launched to jointly promote local products.
Ahead of the 2026 Lunar New Year, six farm-based livestreams sold more than 1,000 pairs of raspberry chrysanthemums in one morning after early blooming slowed traditional sales.
The commune supplies more than seven million seedlings and five million ornamental plants and flowers annually.
During the 2026 Lunar New Year season, TikTok Shop recorded 200,000 orders for ornamental plants, flowers and seedlings from the area, double the initial target.
For the 2027 Lunar New Year, Cho Lach plans to boost online sales of chrysanthemums, seedlings and speciality fruit, while exploring digital vouchers for agricultural ecotourism.
The initiative is expected to help local agricultural products reach wider markets, modernise promotion and production practices and provide a model that could be expanded to other localities.
