Bright outlook for domestic timber industry

Despite the COVID-19 spread, Vietnam earned 13.17 billion USD from wood exports in 2020, up 16.4 percent year-on-year. (Photo: VNA)

Vietnam should develop a generation of young entrepreneurs in the timber industry, and consider it a sector for startups, said President of the Handicraft and Wood Industry Association (HAWA) of HCM City Nguyen Quoc Khanh.

At a recent conference between businesspeople and Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Khanh said Vietnam now ranks second worldwide in wood export, even outstripping Italy and Germany.

“We have completed the five-year target set by the Prime Minister in 2018 two years in advance,” he said.

Despite the COVID-19 spread, Vietnam earned 13.17 billion USD from wood exports in 2020, up 16.4 percent year-on-year, surpassing the yearly target by 5.4 percent, Khanh said, adding that the sector ran a trade surplus of 10 billion USD last year.

He stressed that it is the only industry in Vietnam that has posted double-digit growth over the past 18 years.

According to Khanh, about 1 million labourers are working in the sector, and the number is predicted to stand at around 2-3 million by 2045.

Emphasising the important role by the industry to the national economy, Khanh expressed his belief that the sector can maintain the strong growth and its present position in the world market in the next decades.

However, to achieve the goal, the industry should continue to engage in environmental protection, step up forestation and ensure markets for farmers’ products, he suggested.

He pointed to the ample space in the world market for the Vietnamese timber industry, as it now makes up only 6 percent of the 450 billion USD global market.

Khanh also suggested more investments in technology and digital transformation, and raising added value for the sector./.