Huynh Van Hanh, deputy chairman of the Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of HCM City (Hawa), said global demand for furniture will continue to increase, so the domestic industry can look forward to doing better.

According to preliminary statistics compiled by the Centre for Industrial Studies (CSIL), global furniture consumption is worth more than US$460 billion a year. Supply from Vietnam accounts for just 1.65% of this figure, which means there is considerable room for Vietnamese firms to increase their market share.

China is the world’s largest supplier of wooden products, accounting for 37% of the world’s total consumption.

But the Chinese Government cut its overall timber harvesting quotas by nine per cent, equal to 40 million cubic metres of timber, opening up more opportunities for Vietnamese firms to boost their exports, Hanh said.

In addition, a series of free trade agreements that the country has signed will offer greater export opportunities for domestic firms, he added.

Nguyen Chien Thang, former Hawa chairman and director of Scansia Pacific, said all Hawa members enjoyed good growth last year, with more and more foreign buyers coming to place orders.

They have invested significantly in technologies to improve product quality and management, and this has increasingly gained customers’ trust, he said.

“Previously, large customers, especially those from the US, had mainly bought products from Taiwanese companies investing in Vietnam, but now more and more US customers are contacting Vietnamese producers.

“This is a good sign,” he said.

Anticipating a good year for exports, many firms in Binh Duong and Dong Nai invested in new facilities last year to expand production scale, Thang said, adding that his company is also building a new workshop.

Cao Duy Tam, director of Vi Dai Co., Ltd, which specialises in supplying machinery, equipment and solutions for the wood processing industry, said sales increased by 50% last year and is expected to be higher this year.

Many businesses have invested in new technologies to improve their productivity and quality, solving the problem of labour shortage and getting ready to receive larger export orders, he said.

They have invested in automatic, high speed machines and even CNC (computer numeric control) machines, he added.

Hanh said Vietnamese firms in the past years have accumulated valuable experiences in production, management and market access.

In the coming time, the industry needs to access market at a national scale so that foreign customers know “Vietnam is a nation producing wooden products from legal timber sources,” he said.

VNS