The country's exports of wood and wooden products in the first quartersurged by 20.1 percent against the same period last year to 1.4 billionUSD, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development(MARD).
The figure included 490 million USD in takings in March alone.
The US and China were Vietnam's largest wood and timber productimporters in the first three months, accounting for 52.89 percent of theindustry's total export value. Exports to the US and China rose 19.85percent and 57.88 percent year on year in the reviewed quarter,respectively.
General Secretary of the Vietnam Timberand Forest Product Association, Nguyen Ton Quyen, said Vietnam aimed toearn 6.2 billion USD from exports of wood and timber products this year,up 9 percent from 2013.
He said the target is feasible as local exporters have signed a significant number of contracts.
Bilateral and multilateral agreements, including the European ForestLaw Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) and Voluntary PartnershipAgreement (VPA), expected to be signed this year, will be a goodopportunity for Vietnam.
The country currently only hadaccess to markets in Germany, France, Britain and Spain. If it couldexport to the 27 EU countries, market potential would grow, Quyen said.
He added that authorities should change currentstandards to fit new EU regulations. Awareness of partners in the woodand timber industry remained low regarding new trade deals, limitingopportunities provided by the VPA/FLEGT.
However, henoted that if the TPP is signed in 2014, enterprises must be prepared toadapt to large markets such as the US, Japan, Australia and New Zealandand Canada.
He explained if the country bought woodoutside the TPP block, wood products exported to TPP countries wouldincur high taxes and strict legal supervision, but the tariff rate wouldbe zero if wood was bought from the TPP block.-VNA
The figure included 490 million USD in takings in March alone.
The US and China were Vietnam's largest wood and timber productimporters in the first three months, accounting for 52.89 percent of theindustry's total export value. Exports to the US and China rose 19.85percent and 57.88 percent year on year in the reviewed quarter,respectively.
General Secretary of the Vietnam Timberand Forest Product Association, Nguyen Ton Quyen, said Vietnam aimed toearn 6.2 billion USD from exports of wood and timber products this year,up 9 percent from 2013.
He said the target is feasible as local exporters have signed a significant number of contracts.
Bilateral and multilateral agreements, including the European ForestLaw Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) and Voluntary PartnershipAgreement (VPA), expected to be signed this year, will be a goodopportunity for Vietnam.
The country currently only hadaccess to markets in Germany, France, Britain and Spain. If it couldexport to the 27 EU countries, market potential would grow, Quyen said.
He added that authorities should change currentstandards to fit new EU regulations. Awareness of partners in the woodand timber industry remained low regarding new trade deals, limitingopportunities provided by the VPA/FLEGT.
However, henoted that if the TPP is signed in 2014, enterprises must be prepared toadapt to large markets such as the US, Japan, Australia and New Zealandand Canada.
He explained if the country bought woodoutside the TPP block, wood products exported to TPP countries wouldincur high taxes and strict legal supervision, but the tariff rate wouldbe zero if wood was bought from the TPP block.-VNA
