Gốm Tiều
The Teochew lineage, working in blue-and-white or polychrome glaze for kitchen and household ware. This is the source of the rooster bowl, once found in every kitchen in southern Vietnam.
One voice for Binh Duong ceramics
BICERA brings together the ceramics companies and master craftspeople of Ho Chi Minh City — representing members before government and international partners, and keeping the craft in working hands.
- Founded
- 2010Transferred to Ho Chi Minh City in 2025
- Members
- ~100Companies and individuals in the trade
- Share of exports
- 70–80%Of Vietnam's ceramic exports come from this region
- Legal basis
- Charter approved by Decision 2854/QĐ-UBND of 15 May 2026
What the association does
The charter assigns BICERA six areas of work. They all serve one purpose: so that no ceramics business has to stand on its own.
- Representing and protecting members
- Acting for members in domestic and external relations, defending their lawful rights and interests, mediating disputes and handling complaints relating to the association.
- Shaping policy
- Commenting on policy that bears directly on the trade, petitioning competent state bodies, and providing advice and policy review at the request of government.
- Training and passing on the craft
- Teaching and updating members, running vocational training and craft transmission, and issuing practice and competency certificates where the association qualifies to do so.
- Research and technology
- Taking part in scientific research programmes, projects and technology development that serve ceramics production.
- Connecting and promoting
- Organising and coordinating activity between members for the common good, supplying the information they need, and working with related agencies and organisations.
- Raising resources
- Receiving, managing and using lawful domestic and foreign funding and aid, tied to the association's stated purpose and remit.
The three Lái Thiêu lineages
Ceramics here were never a single tradition. Three distinct lineages of potters settled at Lái Thiêu, each bringing its own glazes, forms and range of wares. That inheritance is what the association exists to keep.
Gốm Phước Kiến
The Hokkien lineage, recognisable at once by its dark brown and deep amber glazes — heavy, thick-bodied and suited to storage vessels and hard-wearing daily ware.
Gốm Quảng
The Cantonese lineage, specialising in decoration for temples and communal houses and in garden pieces. This is the lineage of the large forms: elephants, stools, planters and statuary.
The forms this region is known for
Three lineages of potters left three quite different bodies of work. These are their profiles, drawn the way a potter sketches a shape before throwing it.
The rooster bowl
A shallow bowl with a flared rim, painted with a cobalt rooster on white. Lái Thiêu's best-selling household ware through the first half of the twentieth century, and an image southern Vietnamese recognise on sight.
Storage jars
Broad at the shoulder, drawn in at the mouth, tapering to the foot. A thick brown-black glaze that stands up to sun and rain. These held water, fish sauce and pickles — the pottery of daily life.
Garden stools and elephants
Large forms, thick walls, relief decoration. The Cantonese lineage made pieces for temples and gardens: stools, elephants, planters and statuary. It is also the main export line today.
Toward the World Creative Craft Cities network
Ho Chi Minh City is pursuing the admission of the Binh Duong ceramics craft villages to the Network of World Creative Craft Cities, covering six wards: Lái Thiêu, Thuận An, Chánh Hiệp, Tân Khánh, Thủ Dầu Một and Thuận Giao. Larger member companies of the association are partners in the scheme alongside art schools and vocational training institutions. The Binh Duong pottery craft has been recognised as national intangible cultural heritage since 23 November 2021.
Three classes of membership
The charter is open both to companies in the trade and to those with a serious interest in it.
Full member
Vietnamese citizens and organisations established under Vietnamese law, operating in Ho Chi Minh City in fields related to ceramics. Full voting, nomination and election rights.
Associate member
Citizens and organisations with an interest in ceramics who do not yet meet the standard for full membership. All rights except voting and election.
Honorary member
Individuals, organisations and specialists with standing in the association's field who have contributed materially to its work, invited to join by the association.
Latest coverage
What the press is reporting about ceramics in this region.