Vietnam has puts high hopes on EVFTA, but the COVID-19 pandemic may make the path to realize its benefits a bumpy one.

Vietnam’s wooden furniture industry was expected to have a prosperous year in 2020 after the US-China trade war broke out in 2019. But hopes have been dashed by Covid-19.

AKA Group and Tan Thanh Furniture raised the offered purchase prices continuously to scramble for the design of a chair. The final price was 10 times higher than the starting price.

Vietnamese wooden furniture manufacturers face a shortage of workers, modern technology and money to upgrade technology.

Stable economic growth and the strong rise of the middle class in the country are helping to attract many world-famous brands.

Wooden furniture exporters face risks in importing timber from Africa as the unclear timber origin will violate VPA/FLEGT (Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade Voluntary Partnership Agreement) that Vietnam has signed with the EU.

VietNamNet Bridge - The Vietnamese furniture market is a promising industry, estimated to have value of over $4 billion, according to the Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of HCM City (Hawa). 

Analysts say that Vietnam is following developed countries. According to Statista, a market analysis firm, the used furnishing retail industry in developed countries has had two-digit growth rates annually. 

VietNamNet Bridge - The Vietnamese luxury furniture market is worth $2.5 billion, with 80 percent of products from Europe and 20 percent domestically made.

VietNamNet Bridge - Though the CPTPP has yet to take effect, the number of orders from CPTPP countries, including Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Australia and Peru, has increased significantly.

VietNamNet Bridge - After reaching $8 billion worth of export turnover, Vietnam’s wooden furniture manufacturing enterprises are now entering the high-end market segment. 

VietNamNet Bridge - Wooden furniture manufacturers have been warned that they will face more trade barriers as export markets have applied new policies to restrict imports.

VietNamNet Bridge - Chinese wooden furniture enterprises are considering setting up their production bases in Vietnam, raising worries among domestic manufacturers.

VietNamNet Bridge - China’s policy on focusing on their domestic market has prompted foreign importers to place more orders with Vietnamese enterprises.

VietNamNet Bridge - China’s wooden furniture exports to the US and EU are declining, while Japan and South Korea are importing more from Vietnam.

Hon Do beach in the central province of Ninh Thuan is a dormant treasure waiting to be discovered and developed. Tourists should come, but only if they promise to protect the pristine beauty of the site.

VietNamNet Bridge - The HCM City Fine Arts and Woodworking Association predicted that Vietnam may reach $7.6 billion from timber and wooden exports in 2016, an increase of 10 percent compared to 2015. 

VietNamNet Bridge - The massive Chinese investment in Vietnam’s wooden furniture manufacturing may put Vietnam at a high risk of anti-dumping lawsuits.

The domestic sector has lost the local and export forestry markets to the foreign sector, Huynh Van Hanh, general director of the Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of Ho Chi Minh City has said.