The Dong Nai Wood and Handicraft Association (Dowa) has recently held a conference to review its activities in 2024 and deploy plans for 2025. Despite economic challenges affecting all sectors, the association’s efforts have yielded significant results for the wood industry.
In 2024, Dowa promoted and maintained its trade promotion activities, member connection programs, workshops, and training sessions. These initiatives aimed to enhance the association’s publicity and showcase its strengths in both domestic and international markets. During the year, Dowa also admitted 15 new members from the wood production industry and related fields.
Looking ahead to 2025, Dowa will officially launch a project to build a member platform with funding from international organizations. This project aims to enhance the association’s capacity in collecting and managing member information, boost international trade promotion, increase the digital presence of member businesses, and foster the development of the wood industry in Dong Nai.
Wood production and processing is one of Vietnam’s large-scale industrial sectors with high export value. The Southeast region, including Binh Duong and Dong Nai, is considered the hub of wood production and processing in the country.
In 2024, Vietnam’s exports of wood and wood products reached nearly $16.3 billion, a 20.3% increase compared to 2023. Non-timber forest products also contributed over $1 billion in the same year, bringing the total export value of the forestry sector to approximately $17.35 billion. The trade surplus was estimated at $14.41 billion, a 19% increase from the previous year. Binh Duong, Dong Nai, and Ho Chi Minh City accounted for nearly 53.74% of the country’s forestry export value.
According to the Department of Forestry under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Vietnam’s wood and wood product exports in 2025 face both opportunities and challenges due to international trade policies, especially from the US market. To achieve the export target of $18 billion, the industry will continue to support businesses and associations, promote green transformation, and encourage the use of legal timber sources.
Dong Nai province has issued a scheme for developing the multi-purpose value of the forest ecosystem until 2030, with a vision towards 2050. This scheme aims for sustainable forest-based economics, with multiple purposes and values, and the sustainable use of forest resources. Specifically, the province targets an export turnover of about $2.5 billion in 2025 and $2.8 billion in 2030. Dong Nai also encourages organizations, individuals, and communities to invest in and benefit from the development and exploitation of the multi-purpose values of the forest ecosystem.
Compared to the scheme’s target of $2.5 billion, Dowa’s goal for 2025 is slightly more conservative. Some experts attribute this to the limitations of Vietnam’s wood industry, including its internal strength and competitiveness in the international market. Tariff policies from importing markets also pose challenges that businesses must overcome through concerted efforts.
According to Dowa’s Vice President, Nguyen Phuong, for sustainable development, wood enterprises need to enhance their internal strength. This includes improving product quality, business linkages, and collaborations between wood-processing associations in different localities. These solutions will help Vietnam’s wood production industry meet the world’s increasingly high standards and elevate the reputation of Vietnamese wood products in the global market, he emphasized.
Dong Nai has a large number of wood-processing facilities in the Southeast region. According to the province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, there are approximately 1,000 wood-processing enterprises in Dong Nai (excluding over 500 household-scale producers), accounting for 30% of the region’s total. Among these enterprises, more than 200 are medium and large-scale (including about 50 FDI companies), mainly located in Bien Hoa city and the districts of Trang Bom, Vinh Cuu, and Nhon Trach.
Dong Nai’s wood and wood product exports account for 12-14% of the country’s total annually, second only to Binh Duong, which contributes about 38%.
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