Forestry sector enjoys 4.57 bln USD in 7-month trade surplus

Hanoi (VNA) – The forestry industry gained a trade surplus of over 4.57 billion USD in the first seven months of this year, according to the Vietnam Administration of Forestry (VNFOREST) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The forestry exports in July were estimated at 893 million USD, bringing the total in the reviewed period to more than 6 billion USD, nearly 5.66 billion USD of which came from the export of wood and timber products.

Export growth was seen from the two major markets – the United States and the European Union. The Voluntary Partnership Agreement on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (VPA/FLECT), in effect from June 1, is supporting cooperation between Vietnam and the EU in resolving illegal logging and trade, as well as promoting trade, thus paving the way for more Vietnam’s forestry exports to foreign markets.

The VNFOREST estimated Vietnam planted over 126,000 hectares of forest in the first seven months, representing 51 percent of the yearly goal and up 3 percent from the same period last year.

During the period, the country harvested about 125,000 hectares of forest for 11.5 million cu.m of wood, a year-on-year increase of 5 percent.

From January to July, Vietnam collected close to 1.3 trillion VND (55.9 million USD) in payment for forest ecosystem services, up 11 percent year on year.

By July 28, over 1.97 trillion VND has been allocated to pay 1,342 forest owners across the country for the services they provided.

Vietnam currently has 4,500 enterprises processing and exporting wood and forest products, including 1,863 exporters. They involved more than 700 foreign-invested businesses with a large-scale production and application of technology for production.

For 2019, the forestry sector has set targets of growth rate at 5.5 – 6 percent in production value and export value at 10.5 billion USD. –VNA