Vietnam’s wood export revenue may jump to US$2.2 billion in 2006, reporting on-year rise of 38.4 per cent, according to the Vietnam Forest and Wood Products Association in its meeting to map out development plans for 2006-2011.
The association said Vietnam’s export value increased by 10 times in six years and reached US$1.7 billion in the first 11 months of 2006.
By 2010, wood processors could see annual revenues of US$5.5 billion and Vietnam would surpass China in wooden furniture export to the US market later in the decade. The country is now the third largest woodwork exporter to Japan, following China and Thailand.
Most association officials agreed that Vietnam’s entry into WTO would create more growth opportunities for the wood processing industry with the import tariff on raw material being reduced and exports of processed wood products free of duties or trade berries.
Tran Quoc Manh, vice president of Ho Chi Minh City’s Fine Arts Products and Wood Processing Association observed that Vietnam wood processing and exporting enterprises had many advantages for penetrating foreign markets, including skilled workers and a seaport system favorable for shipping products.
However, the local wood processing industry is also faced by numerous challenges such as dependence on imported material because local supply can meet only 20 per cent of demand, forcing local enterprises to buy 80 per cent of materials from foreign countries.
The import value is estimated to account for around 60 per cent of product value.
Thus, if the country gains $2.2 billion in export revenue this year, total expenditure on import materials is some $1 billion.
In the first 11 months of this year, Vietnam imported $686 million of wood and timber materials, up nearly 15 per cent compared with the same period of last year.
The Association, in the meeting, said it will set up raw material markets nationwide to facilitate trade and the exchange of information on prices and foreign markets.
Meanwhile, Vo Truong Thanh, director of Truong Thanh Wood Group, one of the leading wood export firms in Vietnam, said local wood processing and exporting enterprises should scale up cooperation to mass their strengths in capital and materials and increase their competitiveness with foreign companies.
Vietnam’s total number of enterprises participating in woodwork processing and exporting has soared to 1,200, of which 200 are foreign-invested. The country now stands fourth in ASEAN in exporting wood products. Its products now account for 0.78 per cent of the world’s total wood supply.
(GSO November Edition)
Vietnamese
