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storiesflooring.co.uk US$15 billion in exports, with 80 percent of products meeting
green standards and forming a smart ecosystem that integrates
industrial, trade promotion, and logistic hubs across the
southern key economic region,” he said.

Nguyen Liem, Vice Chairman of Viforest and Chairman of
BIFA, emphasised that the wood industry must pursue dual
transformation - green and digital.
“The green transition helps save energy, reduce emissions
and encourage the use of legal, eco-friendly materials that
meet international standards.
Digital transformation, meanwhile, ensures transparent
“The industry has built a relatively complete supply chain, management, enables production data measurement, optimises
from raw materials and production to distribution, creating a supply chains and improves demand forecasting. The two

strong global competitive advantage,” he said. processes are closely linked and go hand in hand,” he said.
Following the recent administrative merger of HAWA and He proposed establishing a Green and Digital Transformation
BIFA, HCM City now accounts for nearly half of the country’s Support Centre for the wood sector in HCM city, piloting
total wood export revenue and has developed an integrated low-emission factories and green industrial clusters with
supply chain covering production, processing, logistics and shared infrastructure to help small businesses ‘go green’ at
seaports. This forms a solid foundation for the city to position affordable costs.
itself as a regional manufacturing hub, Man added. Le Duc Nghia, Chairman of An Cuong Wood Working

HAWA and BIFA are merging, expanding HAWA’s membership JSC, said the company has implemented SAP S/4HANA, a
to nearly 1,000 enterprises, about 70 percent of which are comprehensive digital management platform, which integrates
producers and exporters. production, finance and supply chain data, boosting productivity
The new HAWA will work closely with both government by over 20 percent.
and industry to ensure stable production, sustainable growth, When digital transformation goes hand in hand with green
and global market expansion, aiming to make HCM City a transition, companies not only save costs but also meet
hub of the world’s wood and furniture industry. international standards for transparency, governance and ESG,
Nguyen Quoc Khanh, Chairman of AA Corporation and all essential for expanding into global markets, he explained.
Senior Advisor to HAWA, said: "The industry’s goal is not He also recommended that the government priorities

merely to export but to export profitably and sustainably." digitalising the national wood industry database, build an open
The wood industry must move beyond subcontracting data system, expand access to green finance and energy-
and focus on developing value-added products. To achieve efficient technologies and develop training programmes to
this, businesses need to invest in design, brand development, help enterprises comply with international standards.
marketing and sales channels to enhance value,” he noted. Vu Quang Huy, Chairman of Tekcom, said the industry is
He urged local firms to embrace a’ go-global strategy’ by facing trade barriers such as countervailing duty investigations,
building their own brands, developing a high-quality workforce, traceability requirements and environmental certification. But

and adopting ESG-based management models. these challenges present an opportunity for businesses with
“With the right direction, by 2035, HCM City could achieve strong capacity and high compliance standards.