Vietnam -Asia's biggest woodwork exporter

HCM City (VNA) - Vietnam has been the biggest furniture
exporter in the ASEAN market, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The Ministry was quoting figures from the American Hardwood Export
Council.

The export turnover of locally made wood products reached 2.5 billion USD
in 2007 and may reach 3 billion USD in 2008, the Ministry said. Vietnamese
as well as Chinese products are seen as having high quality and good design.

Export turnover in the first half of the year for Vietnamese wood products
reached 1.36 billion USD, an increase of 20.4 percent over the previous
year.

This turnover accounted for nearly 46 percent of the total export target
for 2008.

Export turnover from products sold in the US , the largest importer of
Vietnamese furniture, amounted to 450 million USD.

In the first half of the year, the export turnover of the US market
increased 16.6 percent compared to the same period in 2007.

The major importers of Vietnamese furniture are Japan , China and
Europe .

Vietnam has a total of 937 companies involved in the export of wood
products including furniture, a year-on-year increase of 21 percent. Foreign
invested wood companies led in export value.-Enditem