Vietnam must promote the trade of legally produced wood and avoid illegal sources to secure a firm foothold in the US furniture market, according to Chairman of the Vietnam Timber & Forest Products Association (VIFORES) Do Xuan Lap.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) on April 5 held a conference to evaluate trade promotion activities in the first quarter of this year and seek ways to help localities, economic sectors and businesses surmount difficulties and build strategies to expand international trade activities in the new situation.
Vietnam expects to gain a total export value of 12.5 billion USD from timber, wooden products and forest products this year, up 10 percent year on year, according to the Vietnam Timber and Forest Product Association (VIFORES).
With the current good growth, the wood processing industry will achieve its export goal of 20 billion USD by 2025, said Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong at a working session with the Vietnam Timber and Forest Product Association (VIFORES) in Hanoi on January 9.
Timber and wood products generated about 9.64 billion USD in export revenue between January and November, up 19.5 percent year on year, statistics show.
Vietnam is likely to reach its export turnover target of 11 billion USD from wood and forestry products this year as the main season for business is in the last six months of the year, according to an official of the Vietnam Timber and Forest Product Association (VIFORES).
2018 was a successful year for the wood industry, with the export of wood products earning the country over 8.9 billion USD (not including non-wood forestry products), up 14.5 percent from the previous year.
The Vietnam Timber and Forest Production Association (VIFORES) has called on the forestry industry to keep a close eye on US-China trade war developments in order to be able to respond quickly.