The Vietnam International Furniture and Home Accessories Fair (VIFA-EXPO) returned to Ho Chi Minh City on its 11th edition. (Photo: VNA) HCM City (VNA) – The Vietnam International Furniture and Home Accessories Fair (VIFA-EXPO) returned to Ho Chi Minh City on its 11th edition, bringing together 350 domestic and foreign exhibitors.
The expo is underway at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre (SECC) from March 7-10, featuring about 2,000 booths run by furniture and home décor companies throughout Vietnam, international furniture, home décor and handicraft manufacturers and traders from all over the world, and craft villages, cooperatives and handicraft enterprises.
The event was held by the city’s Department of Industry and Trade and the Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of HCM City (HAWA).
The trade fair attracted a large number of foreign exhibitors, many of which have big timber and accessories industries such as Singapore, Taiwan (China), the US, Australia, Russia, Canada, China, Denmark, Ireland, Italy and the Republic of Korea, according to HAWA President Nguyen Quoc Khanh.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Ha Cong Tuan said forestry has become one of Vietnam’s important economic sectors as wood and timber products are the sixth biggest hard currency earner of the country.
Vietnam’s wood and timber products ranked fifth in the world, accounting for 6 percent of the global market share, and led Southeast Asia, he noted.
Tuan added that global demand for wooden furniture will increase by 3.5 percent this year so Vietnamese producers need to focus more on branding and ramp up trade promotion to expand their market
In the first two months of this year, Vietnam exported wood and timber products worth 1.48 billion USD to 38 markets, a year-on-year rise of 38.3 percent.
Strong hikes were recorded in Switzerland (508 percent), Finland (486.5 percent), Turkey (187.6 percent), Saudi Arabia (187.4 percent), Malaysia (138 percent), and the Czech Republic (104.8 percent).-VNA
VNA
