Quyen said the market would grow. In a few years, wood export value to the EU would grow from 700 million USD today to more than 1 billion USD.
To fulfill criteria set by the European market, Vietnamese firms have to obtain certificates and carry out paperwork to clarify the legal origin of their timber products.
In response to the requirement, a number of localities have developed wood material zones meeting Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) standards.
The northern province of Tuyen Quang has 19,700 ha of FSC-certificated forests to date and is striving to have another 4,500 – 5,000ha certified in 2019. Meanwhile, central Quang Tri province ranks first in the country with more than 25,000 ha of certified forests.
Vietnam is one of the world’s leading wood processing and exporting countries with an export turnover of 8 billion USD in 2017. The figure is expected to hit 9 billion USD this year, reports from Vietnam News.
The country earned more than 7.61 billion USD from exports of forestry products between January and October, 84 percent of the yearly target. Timber and wood products contributed 7.23 billion USD to the revenue.
The nation sets a target of 20 billion USD in wood exports by 2025.
