Wood workers and stonemasons in the central province of Binh Dinhare in difficulties due to the economic slowdown and provincial leadersare working to devise measures to help them.
"Currentproblems are causing the decline of two of the major industries in theprovince," said the director of the provincial Department of Industryand Trade, Nguyen Kim Phuong.
Costs of raw materials haveincreased sharply while the prices of finished products have remainedsteady or even declined due to falling demand. Access to credit remainsdifficult, and even those that can secure bank financing face steepinterest rates.
In the face of the global economic recessionand the eurozone debt crisis, European importers have been very carefulabout signing new contracts, or have made smaller orders, said Binh DinhTimber and Forest Products Association chairman Nguyen An Diem.
The masonry sector saw production value of only about 300 billion VND(14.3 million USD) in the first seven months of this year, down 25.5percent from the same period last year. Production of the wood productsindustry hit barely 1.6 trillion VND (74.8 million USD), a modestincrease of 1 percent over last year.
Firms have asked authorities to help them access capital, stabilise production, and find new markets.
Provincial People's Committee chairman Le Huu Loc has also requestedthe State Bank of Vietnam's provincial branch to create favourableconditions for businesses to obtain loans.
Outdoorfurniture has become a saturated market worldwide, so some industryexperts have recommended that local furniture exporters shift tomanufacturing interior furniture to ensure sustainable development.
Stone processors could do more sale promotion and study market demandmore carefully in order to trim inventories, experts said. Companiesalso needed to build long-term strategies to upgrade equipment andtechnologies to make higher quality products.-VNA
"Currentproblems are causing the decline of two of the major industries in theprovince," said the director of the provincial Department of Industryand Trade, Nguyen Kim Phuong.
Costs of raw materials haveincreased sharply while the prices of finished products have remainedsteady or even declined due to falling demand. Access to credit remainsdifficult, and even those that can secure bank financing face steepinterest rates.
In the face of the global economic recessionand the eurozone debt crisis, European importers have been very carefulabout signing new contracts, or have made smaller orders, said Binh DinhTimber and Forest Products Association chairman Nguyen An Diem.
The masonry sector saw production value of only about 300 billion VND(14.3 million USD) in the first seven months of this year, down 25.5percent from the same period last year. Production of the wood productsindustry hit barely 1.6 trillion VND (74.8 million USD), a modestincrease of 1 percent over last year.
Firms have asked authorities to help them access capital, stabilise production, and find new markets.
Provincial People's Committee chairman Le Huu Loc has also requestedthe State Bank of Vietnam's provincial branch to create favourableconditions for businesses to obtain loans.
Outdoorfurniture has become a saturated market worldwide, so some industryexperts have recommended that local furniture exporters shift tomanufacturing interior furniture to ensure sustainable development.
Stone processors could do more sale promotion and study market demandmore carefully in order to trim inventories, experts said. Companiesalso needed to build long-term strategies to upgrade equipment andtechnologies to make higher quality products.-VNA
