Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Ha Cong Tuan (Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – The United States (US) is a leading important market ofthe Vietnamese wood processing industry, Deputy Minister of Agriculture andRural Development Ha Cong Tuan affirmed at the Southeast Asia Convention heldby the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) in Hanoi on June 25.
Last year, the country’s exports of woodand forest products reached 9.4 billion USD, about 42 percent of which camefrom the US. In the first five months of this year, the US remained the mostimportant market accounting for 45 percent of Vietnam’s total export turnoverof wood and wood products, up 34 percent year-on-year, he stated.
Tuan said Vietnam also imported largequantities of timber and wood products from the US. It is currently the topdestination for US hardwood in Southeast Asia.
During January-May, the country imported138 million USD of timber and forest products from the US, an increase of 24.9percent compared to the same period in 2018.
The deputy minister affirmed that Vietnamhas been moving towards building a sustainable wood processing industry thatuses legal materials in accordance with international and Vietnamese law aswell as regulations of major export markets like the US, the EU and Japan.
According to Nguyen Ton Quyen, DeputyChairman of the Vietnam Timber and Forest Product Association, the US has oneof the largest forest areas in the world, with output of more than 300 millioncu.m per year. US wood is guaranteed to be of traceable, legal origins and goodquality, and also has competitive prices.
“With these advantages and over 20commercial timber species, American wood is always the first choice for Vietnameseimporters,” Quyen said, adding that Vietnam has signed many free tradeagreements, in which it commits to processing only legal timber.
Robert Hanson, Head of the ForeignAgricultural Service of the US Embassy in Vietnam, said Vietnam has accountedfor 77 percent of the US’s wood exports to Southeast Asia.
Hanson stated the Forest Law EnforcementGovernance and Trade Voluntary Partnership Agreement (FLEGT-VPA) betweenVietnam and the European Union has taken effect to ensure the legality andsustainability of Vietnamese wood products. Under the agreement, Vietnam willgive priority to importing wood materials from sustainable and legal sources.
Quyen said that Vietnam’s forest productprocessing industry has rapidly and stably developed in recent years, not onlymeeting domestic demand for wood products but also moving towards sustainableexports.
There are now 5,000 enterprises involved inthe production and processing of wood products (excluding households and smallbusinesses), about 1,800 more than there were five years ago.
Vietnam has halted the exploitation ofnatural forests for three years and has been pushing forestation. The 3.5million hectares planted for future exploitation will provide about 35 to 40million cu.m of timber in the next five to 10 years.
The Vietnamese Government set a target forthe forest products sector to reach 11 billion USD in exports this year. Tohelp, the Government has committed to creating good conditions for businesses,including domestic and foreign invested enterprises.
At the conference, the organisers explainedthe classification system for US wood to designers, processors and importers.The conference also served as a chance for Vietnamese and US businesses toexplore future cooperation opportunities.-VNA
VNA
