VIETNAM - In the first five months of 2019, there were 49 new projects investing in the country’s wood industry.

Of them 32 were from the wood processing sector, equivalent to 73 percent of total Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) projects investing in the sector last year, informed Nguyen Quoc Khanh, chairman of Handicrafts and Wood Industry Association of Ho Chi Minh City (HAWA).

The foreign investment capital in the country was nearly 1.2 times higher than last year’s total FDI capital flowing into the country, according to the Foreign Investment Agency, he said.

Among them we can highlight Hafele’s new showroom in the Sala Urban Area (District 2) inaugurated last September.

According to HAWA, Vietnam’s import of wood processing machinery and equipment increased from USD 220 million in 2017 to USD 280 million in 2018.

The figure is expected to rise by 25 per cent in 2019.

The country’s wood product export revenue was USD 9 billion from last year and is targeted to reach USD 11 billion this year.