The forestry industry has accounted for nearly 22% of the total export revenue of the entire agricultural sector, with the trade surplus of forestry products also ranking first among key agricultural exports.
As reported by General Director of VNFOREST Nguyen Quoc Tri, the United States, China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea are the four largest importers of Vietnam’s wood and timber products in the period of January-May.
In order to boost the exports of forestry items, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has been stepping up its efforts to grow and protect forests, while preventing violation cases. So far this month, more than 1,200 cases of violating regulations on forest protection and development have been detected, down 31% against May 2017.
According to Nguyen Ton Quyen, Vice President cum General Secretary of the Vietnam Timber and Forest Product Association (Viforest), enterprises in the wood industry have been particularly proactive in seizing the opportunities from the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
He mentioned the level of foreign language as a big concern for Vietnamese firms as a whole, and timber companies in particular. All the documents related to free trade agreements (FTAs) are mainly in English, with few translated into the Vietnamese language, even the CPTPP, Quyen said.
He suggested that state management agencies should accompany businesses, with an immediate task of promptly converting the CPTPP-related documents into brief and comprehensible Vietnamese versions. It is also necessary to provide enterprises with the specific instruction documents from Vietnamese law on the enforcement of the CPTPP, he stated.
