Difficulties facing the wood industry and measures to promote
sustainable wood import and export in Vietnam were tabled during a
policy dialogue in Ho Chi Minh City on March 29.

At
the event, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Ha Cong
Tuan suggested that in 2013, the State issue a set of standards on
sustainable forest management and build a project to speed up the
granting of Vietnam’s forest certificate.

According to Tuan, the world is trending to using furniture made from
timber granted the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certificate or
having legal origin.

In the meantime, Vietnam
still depends much on imported materials for furniture production due to
inadequate domestic supplies, making the wood processing industry
unsustainable and uncompetitive, Tuan said.

Unstable
timber supply and loans with high lending rates will continue affecting
the production and export of wood and forest products in the future, he
noted.

Huynh Van Hanh, Vice President of the
Handicrafts Wood Industry Association of Ho Chi Minh City (HAWA),
said the country’s wood export is likely to face market reduction in the
absence of proper mechanisms.

The Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development forecast that in 2013, Vietnam’s wood
exports will enjoy a growth of between 10-15 percent against the
previous year, with the US, China and Japan remaining major markets.-VNA