Last year, the country reported a year-on-year surge of 11.1 per cent in export value of wood and forest products to $6.23 billion.— Photo Dinh Hue

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Viet Nam expects the export value for its wooden products to jump to US$7 billion this year, according to the Viet Nam Wood and Forestry Product Association.

The association said the export value will be higher than the $6.23 billion reported last year, because global demand for timber and wooden products is predicted to jump this year, while trade agreements that are expected to be signed this year will improve the export prospects for the domestic wooden industry, the Voice of Viet Nam reported.

However, the industry will face challenges from trade agreements due to the high demand in the origin certificates for wood, while Viet Nam must buy wood from many countries and not all countries possess the origin certificates, the association stated.

Nguyen Ton Quyen, the association's chairman, said wooden product exporters have invested in new products that have high demand in the world market, such as wooden planks and artificial board, to promote exports this year.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), Viet Nam saw a decline of 8.3 per cent during the first month of this year to $494 million, against the same period of last year.

Last year, the country reported a year-on-year surge of 11.1 per cent in export value of wood and forest products to $6.23 billion.

The United States, Japan and China were the three largest markets for Vietnamese timber last year, accounting for 65.13 per cent of the national total export value of timber and forest products.

With exports pegged at $6.23 billion last year, Viet Nam was counted among the 10 largest exporters in the world, but accounted for a mere 2.68 per cent of the total global exports, and can therefore still increase its market share, the association pointed out. — VNS