A wood factory in Binh Duong province (Photo: VNA) For many years, the industry hasposted double-digit growth rates thanks to the fast-expanding global market andthe attractiveness of its production capacity, especially products requiring skillfulworkers to be made.
However, because of that advantage,most businesses in the sector have focused only on manufacturing and buildingbig factories while lacking attention to trade promotion to strongly connectwith markets, Do Xuan Lap, President of the Vietnam Timber and Forest ProductAssociation (VIFOREST), told a press briefing on the Ho Chi Minh City ExportFurniture Fair (HawaExpo) 2023 on February 9.
This has pushed wood firms into apassive situation when market demand declined, he said, elaborating that sincethe latter half of 2022, surging inflation around the world has led to a nosedivein the number of orders placed on Vietnamese manufacturers while FDI firms havestill sustained stable production.
Therefore, to develop sustainably,businesses and associations should invest properly in promoting trade, popularising brands, staying updated with information, and improving production capacity tomeet international buyers’ demand, Lap added.
Le Hoang Tai, Deputy Director of theTrade Promotion Agency at the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said 2022 wasfull of difficulties for Vietnam’s trading activities. Though the situation isforecast to improve in 2023, wood businesses will still face unpredictablechallenges due to global uncertainties, strategic competition among powers, economic recession, and soaring inflation in many countries.
He recommended businesses andassociations work with ministries, central agencies, and localities to organiseworld-class fairs and exhibitions in Vietnam to raise the sector’s standing. Theyshould also open Vietnamese pavilions at international and reputable events inkey and potential markets like the US, the EU, Russia, Japan, the Republic ofKorea, China, and Canada.
In addition, it is necessary topromote the capacity of developing products and researching markets to graspconsumer tastes and importing markets’ standards, thereby improving the competitivenessof their products and build national brands for wood and forestry products ofVietnam, Tai added.
In 2022, forestry exports were estimated at over 16.9billion USD, up 6.1% from 2021. The value includes about 15.85 billion USDworth of timber and wood products, rising 7%, and 1.1 billionUSD worth of non-timber products, falling 1.3%.
Meanwhile, timber and wood product importsincreased 4.1% to 2.82 billion USD, resulting in a trade surplus of14.1 billion USD, up 6.5% from last year, according to the VietnamAdministration of Forestry./.
VNA
