Under framework of the first Vietnam Wood Furniture and Forest Product Festival in Binh Dinh province, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, along with the Vietnam Timber and Forestry Product Association, held a Vietnam Forestry Forum aiming to develop forestry processing and trade in line with the sustainable management of forests.

The forestry processing industry has made significant progress in recent years. Export values increased from about US$200 million in 2000 to US$3.4 billion in 2010. It is one of the country’s top ten highest value exports.

Although it generates high export value, the Vietnamese forestry industry is still limited. Most materials for production and export are imported, while forest plantation and exploitation brings only low value. Export markets are not stable and many businesses do not have specific development strategies and are not actively exploiting the domestic market. In addition, Vietnamese timber products have weak brand names.

Vice Chairman of the Binh Dinh Timber and Forestry Product Association, Nguyen Van Tham, said to build a strong trademark, businesses must use production process that follow international standards and most importantly protect environment. They should also pay more attention to the domestic market and reduce the number of exports.