PM Phuc underlined the importance of wood industry, saying the government is determined to increase forest coverage to 42%, higher than the world average of 29%. He called for efforts to earn 9 billion USD from wood exports this year, 11 billion USD next year, and from 18 billion to 20 billion USD in 2025. The Prime Minister  agreed on the need to adopt incentives to develop processing businesses and maximize Vietnam’s competitive edge, helping to generate jobs and shift the labor structure in rural, mountainous areas.

Mr. Phuc called on sectors and businesses to strictly implement the 2017 Law on Forestry, which considers forestry a special technological economic sector linked in a product value chain, from management, protection, and development of forestry to the use, processing, and commercializing wood products.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc underlined the importance of export market: “Marketing should be carried out in and outside Vietnam. It’s necessary to study the development of global real estate and free trade agreements, such as an agreement with the European Union, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), and many other deals. This will be a good opportunity for the Vietnamese wood industry to have greater access to the markets.”

Vietnam ranks 5^th in the world and 2^nd in Asia in wood and forestry exports. Its products are sold in more than 120 countries and territories.