Vietnam has exported timber products directly to 120 countries and territories instead of having to go through a transit market like China’s Taiwan, Singapore and the Republic of Korea (RoK) to export to the third country.

Vietnam has exported timber products directly to 120 countries and territories (Illustrative image. Source: VNA)

The US, China, Japan and the RoK are the four largest importers of Vietnam’s timber goods, accounting for 78.5 percent of the country’s total export value of those products.

Other markets with strong growth are Malaysia, France and Australia.

Wood and timber products ran a trade surplus of USD 3.52 billion in the period, with imports of those products standing at USD 1.24 billion, a slight increase of 0.4 percent compared to the same period last year.

According to the Vietnam Administration of Forestry under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, main forestry products in January-July were estimated to earn the country over USD 5 billion, fulfilling nearly 56 percent of the yearly target and making up 22.6 percent of the total export turnover of the agriculture sector.

The forestry sector recorded a trade surplus of USD 3.77 billion in the reviewed period.

The export value of main forestry products continued to maintain a year-on-year average growth of over 14 percent.

The export turnover of wood and timber products is expected to increase in the remaining months of this year in line with consumption habits.

In addition, Vietnam and the European Union (EU) are completing legal procedures to approve the signing of the voluntary partnership agreement (VPA) on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT).

By mid-July 2018, the European Commission (EC) approved the content of the agreement and agreed to submit it to the EU Council of Ministers for official signing.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has submitted the document to the Government for signing./.

( VNF/VNA )