The southern province of Dong Nai generated approximately 602 million USD through exporting wood products during the first eight months of 2014, a year-on-year rise of 8.2 percent.

According to the provincial Statistics Department, in August alone the export value of wood products was estimated at 88.3 million USD, up by 11.2 million USD from the previous month.

The increase is attributable to a growing demand from the province’s main export markets, such as the US, Canada, the UK, the Republic of Korea and Japan, as well as several new markets in Latin America and Africa, Le Van Danh, Director of the local Department of Industry and Trade, said.

Many companies have received orders for the first quarter of next year.

According to the Handicrafts and Wood Industry Association of Vietnam, the stable macro-economy, controlled inflation, reasonable credit growth and abundance of human resources have made Vietnam’s wood production industry attractive for foreign investors.

Bui Quang Hoi, Director of the Bui Chan Hung limited company, said buyers have shifted their orders from China and Thailand to Vietnam to benefit from its tariff incentives. Vietnam has already signed trade agreements with numerous countries, which determine that import-export taxes for several commodities, including wood, will gradually be reduced to zero.

Dong Nai now has over 600 wood-related enterprises, earning 2 billion USD in revenue last year, with nearly 1.5 billion USD generated from exports. Dong Nai’s exports account for 27 percent of the national timber sector’s total export value.-VNA