The expo is currently underway at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre (SECC) from March 7-10, featuring about 2,000 booths run by furniture and home décor companies throughout Vietnam, international furniture, home décor and handicraft manufacturers and traders from all over the world, and craft villages, cooperatives and handicraft enterprises.
The event was held by the city’s Department of Industry and Trade and the Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of Ho Chi Minh City (HAWA).
The trade fair attracted a large number of foreign exhibitors, many of which have big timber and accessories industries such as Singapore, Taiwan (China), the US, Australia, Russia, Canada, China, Denmark, Ireland, Italy and the Republic of Korea, according to HAWA President Nguyen Quoc Khanh.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Ha Cong Tuan said forestry has become one of Vietnam’s important economic sectors, as wood and timber products are the sixth biggest hard currency earner of the country.
Vietnam’s wood and timber products ranked fifth in the world, accounting for six percent of the global market share, and lead Southeast Asia, he noted.
