HANOI: Vietnam Timber and Forest Products Association (Viforest) general secretary Ngo Sy Hoai says that the wood industry needs to pay attention to green production and trade to increase exports.
According to Hoai, many major markets are strengthening import regulations as well as important technical barriers for products from exporting countries.
For example, European Union (EU) countries have requested that exporters meet the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism regulations.
Goods imported into the EU will be subject to a carbon tax, and businesses must convert to lower-emission production models to get carbon credits.
Viforest has encouraged businesses to ensure green production, green trade and digital transformation.
It is said that sustainable development will be key to increasing orders and revenue from export activities.
The association has conducted several trade promotion activities at home and abroad to attract more customers and orders.
The EU Deforestation Regulation is coming into effect soon, and Viforest plans to host training courses.
Hoai said that in the first three months of this year, the export of timber and wood products reached US$3.5bil, an increase of 25.4% over the same period in 2023.
Of this, the export turnover of wood products was US$2.4bil, an increase of 30.8%. The main markets were still the United States, China, Japan, South Korea and the EU.
At the same time, businesses spent US$535.7mil to import wood materials, an increase of 15.3% over the same period in 2023.
The industry saw positive business results in the first three months of the year, but it cannot be confirmed that the market will recover well. This year is still a difficult year for the wood processing industry, said Hoai.
Meanwhile, large markets, such as the United States, the EU, China, Japan and South Korea, are still heavily affected by issues related to geopolitical conflicts, economic instability and suppressed consumer confidence.
The United States market has accounted for 50% to 55% of Vietnam’s total export value of wooden furniture.
However, the frequency of lawsuits and investigations relating to trade regulations on wood products of Vietnamese origin is increasing, so Vietnamese wood processing businesses face many risks.
On the domestic market, many firms still have difficulty getting value-added tax refunded and complying with new fire prevention and firefighting standards. Many factories built 20 to 30 years ago are now located in densely populated areas.
The enterprises themselves also needed to improve their management capacity and strengthen their ability to comply with regulations related to forests and wood in Vietnam and foreign markets, said Hoai.
In addition, they need to improve their ability to cope with the stringent trade regulations in large markets.
The businesses also expected value-added tax refunds to be processed timely and state agencies to find feasible solutions for them in complying with fire prevention regulations.
According to the Prime Minister’s office, the preferential credit package for the wood and seafood industries of 15 trillion dong has been increased to 30 trillion dong.
Viforest hopes banks will support the businesses by introducing simple and more flexible procedures so that they can effectively and promptly access this capital source.
Vietnam aims to generate US$15bil from timber and wood product exports this year. — Viet Nam News/ANN
