On February 18, 2011, Vice Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung signed a decision on planning, policy and solution for development, material exploitation, processing as well as consumption of bamboo and rattan products. This decision will open new opportunities for this sector of Vietnam.
Under the decision, more land areas will be allocated for planting bamboo and rattan; the production to serve domestic demand and exports will be also invested more thoroughly. Plantation regions of bamboo and rattan will be expanded in parallel with ensuring the effectiveness and sustainability and developing professionalized processing establishments.
Besides, the state encourages producers of bamboo and rattan products to move their establishments into industrial parks and complexes in localities and particularly give priority to those which bring the high economic value and have concentrated material areas. The state also calls on recovering and developing traditional craft villages which are sufficient for materials, labor and environmental hygiene, aiming at green and friendly-environmental production.
The state will soon deploy allocating land and forest for people and encourage investors as well as producers of bamboo and rattan products to apply advanced technologies in order to bring in the highest effect. The state will also support 100 per cent of costs for research and test of seeds and scientific application. In addition, organizations, individuals and enterprises will receive some benefits such as credit, investment priorities; exemption of taxes and land using fees; financial support for growers to buy bamboo and rattan transplants if plantation areas belong to the planned region.
Particularly, the decision pays a special attention to personnel training, encouraging and raising skills for workers in the field. Through the exploitation process, after deducting annuity for the state, the forest growers will benefit 100 per cent of exploited products or the signed contract.
The sector’s enterprises will be supported financially for trade promotion activities at home and abroad. Provincial people’s committee is assigned to give favorable conditions and allocate places for building markets, stores and trade center to promote bamboo and rattan products. Agencies and authorities need to build detail plans, instruct and supervise regularly the implementation.
Some main export markets of Vietnamese bamboo and rattan products are the US, Japan, Germany, France, Holland, Taiwan, the UK and Belgium. Of them, the US market is the biggest one. In October 2010, the US market imported US$2.5 million worth of products made from bamboo, rattan and sedge; carpets and lacquers, raising Vietnam’s total export value of such products to the market in the ten months of 2010 to US$26.5 million, accounting for 15.8 per cent of the sector’s total export turnover and rising up to 38.46 per cent against the same period of 2009. For that very reason, besides supporting production, the state also should seek for and expand export markets for bamboo and rattan products; encourage enterprises and producers to sign long-term contracts with growers as well as make researches on market, model, liking and obstacles in order for better development strategy.
Over the past years, Vietnam’s bamboo and rattan products have been showing their important role, being among industries which bring the high economic value. In January 2011, bamboo and rattan exports brought US$15 million to the country. With the above-mentioned priorities, the sector is expected to more and more develop and affirmed its status at the domestic market as well as in foreign markets in near future.
Thu Ha
Vietnamese
