Last year, Vietnam earned 9.38 billion USD from exporting wood and non-wood forest products (Source: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on March 28 issued aDirective on measures to achieve rapid and sustainable development of the woodand non-wood forest product processing industry to serve exports.
Wood and non-wood forest products are ranked the sixth most important export product of Vietnam and hadaverage annual growth rate of 13 percent during 2010-2018.
Last year, Vietnamearned 9.38 billion USD from exporting wood and non-wood forest products, up 15.9 percent against the previous year and making up almost aquarter of the agriculture sector’s export turnover.
Vietnamese wood productshave been sold to more than 120 nations and territories. The country is thefifth largest exporter of wood in the world and second in Asia, accounting for6 percent of the world’s market share.
The country now hasabout 4,500 wood processing and forestry businesses, and 1 million householdsinvolved in afforestation. Therefore, developing the wood and non-wood forestproduct processing industry will boost afforestation and environmental protection,create sustainable livelihoods and contribute to the forestry sector’srestructuring programme.
However, the sector facesvarious challenges, including international trade conflicts, regular changesand adjustments in policies of material exporters and wood and non-wood forestproduct importers. Investment in developing national brands of wood productshas been limited, while Vietnam’s participation in free trade agreements andinternational treaties offers not only opportunities, but also challenges for thesector.
Therefore, in thedirective, PM Phuc asked businesses to use legal materials, apply advancedtechnologies and modern equipment in processing, and ensure environment-relatedrequirements in production.
The sector isstriving to achieve 11 billion USD in wood and non-wood forest product productexports in 2019, 12-13 billion USD in 2020, and 18-20 billion USD by 2025.-VNA
VNA
