IFC, Sumitomo Invests in Vietnam’s Forestry

International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group (WB), and Japan’s Sumitomo Forestry Company Limited are co-investing to build a particleboard processing plant in Vietnam, helping create jobs in the country’s forestry sector and cutting greenhouse-gas emissions.

 

IFC’s US$9 million equity investment in the plant helps boost Vietnam’s wood-furniture manufacturing sector, the third-largest in the world, and benefits about 700 farmers along the wood supply chain. Vietnam’s furniture manufacturing sector faces a shortage in locally sourced particleboard, one of the major wood products used in furniture making, and imports 70 percent of its needs.

 

With an annual design capacity of 250,000 cubic meters, the plant will be able to produce high-quality particleboard that meets the specifications of major furniture processors. The project also includes the construction of an 11-megawatt biomass-based power plant to supply its energy needs, reducing greenhouse-gas emissions.

 

The plant, owned and operated by Vina Eco Board Company Limited, a joint venture of Sumitomo Forestry Company and Sumitomo Forestry (Singapore) Limited, is located in Long An province, a less-developed region in southern Vietnam.