Wood Industry Company in southern Binh Duong Province. The forestry industry is expected to reach an export value of $9.5 billion in 2020. — Photo baodongnai.com.vn

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — The domestic forestry sector expects to reach a total export value of wood and forestry products at US$9.5 billion in 2020, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The ministry said it also expected a growth rate of production value at 7 per cent per year between 2016 and 2020,

To gain the targets, during this period, the industry would strongly change its development structure to increase efficiency and competitive ability, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Ha Cong Tuan said at a conference on reviewing protection and development of forests from 2011 to 2015, in Ha Noi on Wednesday.

The sector would develop production step-by-step to meet the demand for wood, firewood, forestry products and material for wood processing industry, in addition to production of wooden boards and paper in markets at home and abroad, he said.

Tuan said that from 2011 to 2015, the sector showed strong growth in export value of wooden and forestry products from $4.2 billion in 2011 to $6.54 billion in 2014. The sector expected to reach between $6.8 billion and $7 billion for this year.

The sector also expanded its export market to 100 countries and territories, including the US, the EU, and Japan, apart from South Korea and China.

However, efficiency of forestry production in Viet Nam was still lower than other countries in the region and the world due to the small production scale and a lack of synergy in the production chain, he said.

According to the ministry, the support industry and infrastructure for the wooden and forestry processing industry, such as warehouse and ports, have not been developed. The sector has not paid attention to the domestic market of wooden and forestry products.

Tuan said the local wood processing industry had developed recently, but the industry itself lacked synergy, with processing factories, consumption market and material regions not working closely enough. In addition, reform and development of production organisation had been slow.

The Viet Nam Wood and Forestry Product Association said the US was the largest exporter of Vietnamese wooden and forestry products, followed by Japan, China and the EU.

Viet Nam is the sixth biggest wood exporter in the world, the second largest in the Asia and the largest in the ASEAN community.

Wooden products are the most preferred as indoor and outdoor furniture, accounting for 75 per cent of Viet Nam's wooden products for export. — VNS