Webinar spotlights furniture trade opportunities in UK

Vietnam exports nearly 267 million USD worth of wood and furniture to the UK last year, a year-on-year increase of 16.4 percent. (Photo: VNA)

London (VNA) – The webinar and online businessmatching themed “Vietnam – UK Furniture Trade Opportunities” took place onApril 19 for participants to discuss opportunities, challenges and ways to boost exports ofVietnamese furniture to the UK.

Held by the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (Vietrade) incollaboration with the Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of Ho Chi MinhCity and the Vietnamese Trade Office in the UK, the event brought together alarge number of firms in the wood and furniture industry from both countries.

It provided an overview of the UK’s furniture market, consumersentiment and trade policy on imported furniture, and forecast potential trendsof furniture business in the European country. British experts answeredVietnamese firms’ questions about the market and briefed them on majorfurniture fairs, notably the January Furniture Show, one of the biggest in theUK.

It also featured a business-to-business (B2B) matchingsession between UK buyers and Vietnamese manufacturers.

The webinar and online business matching themed “Vietnam – UK Furniture Trade Opportunities” discusses opportunities, challenges and ways to boost exports of Vietnamese furniture to the UK. (Photo: VNA)

In his opening remarks, Vietrade Director Vu Ba Phu saidVietnam’s furniture exports have seen strong growth despite impacts ofCOVID-19, disrupted supply chain and rising shipping costs and input prices. Lastyear, the country shipped abroad more than 14.8 billion USD worth of wood andfurniture, up 19.7 percent year on year, making it the world’s largestexporter.

In 2021, Vietnam exported nearly 267 million USD worth ofwood and furniture to the UK, a year-on-year increase of 16.4 percent. Theshipments exceeded 72 million USD in the first quarter of this year, up 14percent./.

VNA