Wooden furniture manufacturers beg for support
The HCM City Fine Arts and Woodworking Association predicted that Vietnam may reach $7.6 billion from timber and wooden exports in 2016, an increase of 10 percent compared to 2015. Meanwhile, experts have repeatedly warned of the danger of falling behind other regional countries. Vietnam urged to beware of investments from China. According to Nguyen Ton Quyen, deputy chair of the Vietnam Timber and Forest Product Association, Vietnam’s wooden products are present in 120 countries and territories. However, the products are mostly sold at FOB (free on board) prices instead of CIF (cost, insurance, freight). FOB price is much lower than CIF, which is a problem for many enterprises. The low sale prices force Vietnamese enterprises to pay less to their workers than foreign invested enterprises. This will be a serious problem in the time to come, when Chinese wooden furniture manufacturers flock to Vietnam to enjoy preferential tariffs from the Vietnam-EU free trade agreement and TPP.
