Viet Nam gained an estimated US$8.49 billion in the first 11 months of this year from the export of forestry products, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Viet Nam Administration of Forestry (VAF).

The export value rose 16.6 per cent year on year and accounted for 23.42 per cent of the total agro-forestry-fishery exports. The forestry sector’s trade surplus was estimated at nearly $6.4 billion in the first 11 months. Major export markets of local forestry products included Japan, the European Union, China and South Korea, making up nearly 87.33 per cent of the total.

The nation expects to gain $9.3 billion in total this year from the export of forestry products. According to the administration, the export results were attributable to the restructuring of forestry sector over the past five years. In the near future, the Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade Voluntary Partnership Agreement, which was signed between Viet Nam and the EU in October in Brussels, will help Viet Nam expand export markets and improve regulations on forest management.

The agreement will also deal with illegal wood exploitation and trade, contributing to the sustainable development of Viet Nam’s wood processing sector. It will benefit Viet Nam in socio-economic and environment terms, contributing to stepping up Viet Nam’s exports of wood and wooden furniture to markets outside the European Union such as the US, Japan and Australia, thus achieving the goal of earning $12-13 billion from wood exports by 2020.

According to the administration, during the 11-month period, the import of wood and wooden furniture reached $2.1 billion, up 6.17 per cent year on year, mostly from China, Cambodia and Thailand. — VNS