A wood processing plant in Vietnam (Illustrative image (Source: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – In 2019, Vietnam’swood and forestry industry aims to gross 10.5 billion USD in exports, up 1.2billion USD compared to the previous year.
This is a relatively high target as the entireagricultural sector set a goal of a yearly increase of 3 billion USD. However,Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Ha Cong Tuan said it iscompletely feasible.
The forestry sector hit 9.3 billion USD inexport turnover in 2018, surpassing the target of 9 billion USD ordered byPrime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.
This is considered a premise for the sector’sexport growth not only in 2019 but also beyond, Tuan said.
At a conference devising plans for rapid andsustainable development of the wood and forestry industry in August 2018, thePM required the sector to become a spearhead in production and exports ofVietnam in the next 10 years.
Another goal is turning Vietnam into a globalleading centre in the production, processing and export of wood and forestproducts, the Government leader said.
Vietnamese wood and timber products make up 6percent of global market share, ranking second in Asia and fifth in the world.
Domestically, this group of products hassurpassed seafood to become the sixth largest export commodity of Vietnam.
The development of the wood and forestry sectoris also shown by its presence in more than 120 countries and territories.Forestry exports, especially wood and timber products, have recorded two-digitgrowth over the past decade.
The outcomes were significantly attributable to4,500 businesses, including nearly 1,900 export firms.
Notably, Vietnamese firms surpassedforeign-invested ones, contributing 5.3 billion USD to the total 9.3 billionUSD in export turnover in 2018.
According to Tuan, the success of the sector wasalso due to the Government’s policies to boost investment in this field and rejectillegal wood.-VNA
VNA
