Vietnam and Cambodia should intensify cooperation in monitoring their export and import of timber and wood products, thus minimising illegal timber trading at border areas, heard a dialogue held in Ho Chi Minh City on October 22.

The event was jointly organised by the Vietnam Administration of Forestry (VAF) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Forestry Administration (FA) of Cambodia. Deputy General Director of the VAF Pham Van Dien said that ensuring timber raw materials hold legal origin certificates is one of the key measures in Vietnam`s development policy for the wood processing and export industry, adding that imported wood has helped add raw materials, contributing to the increasing value of wood exports.

Vietnam`s wood processing industry has developed rapidly and stably in recent years. In 2017, Vietnam became the world`s fifth largest wood exporter and the second biggest in Asia, with an export turnover of over 8 billion USD, according to Dien.

Bui Chinh Nghia, also from the VAF, said last year, the processing and exporting of wood products of Vietnam used about 31 million cu.m of timber, including about 7 million cu.m worth 2.19 billion USD imported. In the first eight months of 2018, Vietnam imported 1.3 billion USD worth of raw material timber, with Cambodia the third largest supplier, after China and the US.


Source: https://en.vietnamplus.vn