At the opening ceremony of the Vietnam International Furniture & HomeAccessories Fair (VIFA EXPO) 2024 in HCM City, Liem said that shipment of theproducts in December 2023 rose 10.3% month-on-month to 1.6 billion USD whilethat in January grew 10.2% from the previous month to nearly 1.8 billionUSD.
He said this was the only product in the field of agriculture with export value exceeding 1billion USD within a month, and 32 out of 45 key export markets seeing growth.
However, Liem said that the wood industry is facing several problems thataffect its sustainability, including risks related to imported timbermaterials, the EU’s deforestation regulations and requirements for wooden products tohave low carbon footprints.
He also described the conflict in the Red Sea, which forced liners to stop transportor divert their routes, subsequently leading to higher transport expenses, asanother major challenge.
Although export growth was recorded in several markets in 2023, such as India(288%), Peru (111%), Turkey (90%) and Norway (52%), it was a tough year forVietnam’s wood exports. This was the first time the industry has reported negativeexport growth in two decades as shipments fell 14.8% to only 16 billion USD.
VIFA EXPO 2024 is organised by the VCCI's HCM City Branch, the Vietnam Associationfor Construction Materials and the Alliance Handicraft & Wooden Fine ArtCorporation from February 26-29.
It attracted more than 600 exhibitors who set up over 2,000 booths. Theexhibitors are from 17 countries and territories, including Australia, Canada,China, Cambodia, Denmark, France, Hong Kong (China), India, Indonesia, theNetherlands, the US and Vietnam.
A wide range of wood furniture and products,home decoration items, handicrafts, machinery, and supporting services are displayed at the fair.
As an important trade promotion event for the wood and furniture industry, theexpo serves as a venue for enterprises to introduce their products and seekorders./.