The US is also the largest wood and wood products importer of Vietnam, accounting for 45 percent of total exports of lumber industry. Last year, wood exports of Vietnam to the US exceeded US$3.6 billion. In the first five months of this year, wood exports nearly touched $1.9 billion, an increase of 34.98 percent over the same period last year. The US is the biggest raw wood supplier for Vietnam with wood production not less than 300 million cubic meters of wood annually.
Agricultural counsellor Robert Hanson of the US Embassy in Hanoi said that Vietnam is the top destination of the US’s raw hardwood in the Southeast Asia.
He stated the Forestry Law of Vietnam and the Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade Voluntary Partnership Agreement between Vietnam and the European Union which became effective this year have ensured the legality and sustainability of Vietnamese wood products.
According to Mr. Ha Cong Tuan, deputy minister of the Agriculture and Rural Development, the country has become more actively in domestic raw wood materials. In the past three year, the Government had ended exploitation of natural forest and strongly developed forest plantations. Vietnam currently has more than 4.1 million hectares of forest plantations. Wood processing industry must become the key industry of Vietnam with a goal to serve domestic demand and export of around $20 billion by 2025.
