Ho Chi Minh City wood industry positions itself as a world production and export center

From a turnover of less than 200 million USD in 1999, Vietnam's wood industry is forecast to reach 20 billion USD by 2025, rising to second place in the world in wooden furniture exports, just behind China.

Scene of the discussion. Photo: Hoang Hung

That was the information given at the seminar "The wood and furniture export industry of Ho Chi Minh City - The center of global production and export", organized by the Handicraft and Wood Processing Association of the city (HAWA) in coordination with the Vietnam Timber and Forest Products Association (Viforest) and the Binh Duong Timber Association (BIFA) on October 23.

Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Nguyen Van Duoc chaired the discussion, along with leaders of departments, branches and more than 200 domestic and international enterprises.

Speaking at the opening of the seminar, Mr. Phung Quoc Man - Chairman of HAWA, affirmed that Vietnam's wood industry is one of the most outstanding success stories of the export economy .

From a turnover of less than 200 million USD in 1999, Vietnam's wood industry is forecast to reach 20 billion USD by 2025, rising to the second position in the world in exporting wooden furniture, just behind China. Currently, the whole country has more than 6,200 enterprises operating in the wood processing sector, creating jobs for half a million workers.

In particular, after the administrative boundary consolidation, Ho Chi Minh City accounts for nearly half of Vietnam's total wood export turnover. The city owns a system of modern industrial parks, logistics and seaports, creating conditions for the formation of a closed supply chain from raw materials, processing to export.

According to Mr. Man, with the coordination between localities and associations, Ho Chi Minh City can become the "locomotive leading" the Vietnamese wood industry further in the global value chain, not only a production center but also a center for design, innovation and international connection.

Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Nguyen Van Duoc chaired the discussion. Photo: Organizing Committee

Mr. Nguyen Liem - Vice Chairman of Viforest, Chairman of BIFA emphasized that the Vietnamese wood industry is entering a period of strong transformation, where value comes not only from output but also from transparency, technology and environmental responsibility.

From there, Mr. Liem proposed that Ho Chi Minh City soon establish a Center to support green transformation and digitalization of the wood industry, where businesses can receive advice and access to technology appropriate to their scale. At the same time, it is necessary to deploy a model of "low emission factories" and green wood industrial clusters with shared infrastructure, from dust and wastewater treatment to solar energy, helping small businesses to "green" at reasonable costs.

In addition, investing in a green and smart logistics ecosystem is considered an urgent solution. When transport infrastructure, warehouses and dry ports are planned synchronously, businesses will reduce costs, improve competitiveness and meet the strict requirements of major export markets.

On the business side, according to Mr. Le Duc Nghia - Chairman of the Board of Directors of An Cuong Wood Joint Stock Company, digital transformation is the key driving force to improve productivity and transparency in management. Currently, the unit has deployed the SAP S/4HANA system - a comprehensive digital transformation platform from Germany, helping to synchronize production, financial and supply chain data, thereby increasing productivity by over 20% and reducing operating costs by 10%.

According to Mr. Nghia, businesses can only meet international ESG standards (environmental, social and governance standards) when digital transformation goes hand in hand with green transformation. This is also a prerequisite for Vietnamese goods to maintain their position in high-end markets such as the EU and North America.

Based on the above reality, Mr. Nghia recommended that the State soon build a national database for the wood industry, connecting data on traceability, raw material areas and carbon management, in order to meet new regulations such as EUDR and CBAM being implemented in Europe.

At the seminar, experts said that with its industrial scale, logistics infrastructure and abundant human resources, Ho Chi Minh City has enough potential to become the furniture and interior capital of Southeast Asia. By 2035, the city aims to have 80% of its products meet green standards, form a smart industrial - logistics - commercial ecosystem, and strongly develop the domestic market with an expected value of more than 30 billion USD/year including furniture and decorative materials.

In his concluding remarks, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Nguyen Van Duoc affirmed that the city government will always accompany businesses through investment support mechanisms, trade promotion, high-quality human resource training and green industrial infrastructure development.

With a dual transformation strategy - connecting the three pillars of enterprises - associations - government, Ho Chi Minh City is getting closer to the goal of becoming the world's leading center for production, export and creation of wooden furniture - interior, contributing to the position of "Vietnam - the green factory of the world".

Regarding export markets, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, in the first 9 months of 2025, Vietnam's wood and wood product exports reached 12.52 billion USD with 4 main markets being the US, EU, Japan and South Korea.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/nganh-go-tp-ho-chi-minh-dinh-vi-thanh-trung-tam-san-xuat-xuat-khau-cua-the-gioi-720654.html