HuynhVan Hanh, Vice Chairman of the Handicraft and Wood Industry Associationof Ho Chi Minh City, said at the opening ceremony of the exhibitionVIFA EXPO on March 11 that among the ten biggest wooden furnitureexporting countries, Vietnam enjoys good conditions to boostcompetitiveness.
“Vietnam has many advantages in terms ofproduction potential and opportunities. If there are right policies,Vietnam can raise its global market share from the current 1.5% to 5% inthe next five years, meaning additional revenue of 15 billion USD,”Hanh said at the seventh Vietnam International Furniture and HomeAccessories Fair (VIFA EXPO).
The total export turnover ofVietnam’s wooden furniture this year is predicted to reach more than 6.5billion USD, increasing by 20% compared with nearly 5.6 billion USD in2013, while domestic sales of the industry are estimated at 2 billionUSD.
This year’s VIFA EXPO features many domestic woodenfurniture producers with their newest indoor and outdoor products usingenvironmentally friendly materials that can compete with products fromThailand, Malaysia and China.
The number of foreign viewers coming to the expo on the morning of March 11 is higher than expectation of the organiser.
“Wehave equipped six computers and four printers to give updatedinformation about foreign customers visiting the fair but such machinesare still overloaded as the number is big. In the next three days ifforeign viewers continue to come like this morning then it would be asuccess that goes far beyond our expectations,” he said.
VIFAEXPO, held in four days at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centerin HCM City’s District 7 by the HCM City Department of Industry andTrade, HAWA and HAWA Corporation, has seen participation of 141enterprises with 625 stalls, up 3% over last year, of which 18% belongsto nine foreign countries and territories such as Belgium, Denmark,Australia, China, Taiwan, the Republic of Korea, and Japan.
Thestall displaying products that won Vietnam’s Apricot 2013-2014 award, anannual wooden furniture designing contest held by HAWA, attracted manyforeign customers as the products show unique designing ideas and isuseful for houses in cities.-VNA