A seminar to promote the export of wooden and rattan products to the Japanese market took place in Ho Chi Minh City on Oct. 6.

The event was jointly organised by the municipal Department of Industry and Trade, the Trade Promotion Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the ASEAN-Japan Centre for Trade, Investment and Tourism Promotion (AJC).

According to AJC statistics, indoor wooden products account for the largest component of wooden furniture and imports to Japan each year and were worth nearly 1.5 billion USD. Of this, imports from Vietnam are mainly wooden furniture for bedroom, kitchen and office.

Takayoshi Nagashima, a representative from Japan’s AIK company, said that Japanese consumers prefer products with unique characteristics and high added value to improve the quality of their lives.

According to the Vietnam-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement, almost 92 percent of commodities flowing between Japan and Vietnam will be exempted from tax from 2010 to 2012. In addition to agricultural, forestry and aquatic products which be provided with high incentives from Japan, industrial products will also enjoy a tax reduction./.