General Director of the Industrial Policy and Research Institute Duong Dinh Giam says the industrial sector has laid out a highly detailed and specific roadmap for achieving its goals for 2030.

The overall framework calls for average annual industrial value added growth of 6.5-7% in the years leading up to 2020 and 7.5-8% by 2030, with average industrial production value growth of 12.5-13% by 2020 and 11-12% by 2030.

Upon successful implementation, Giam says, that the proportion of industry and construction to GDP will be 42-43% by 2020 and 43-45% by 2030.

By 2020 the proportion of the manufacturing and processing sector will make up 85-90% of total industrial production value, and the value of high-tech products will account for 45% of national GDP. The corresponding figures by 2030 will be 90-92% and over 50%.

Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang says the industrial sector aims to have advanced technologies fully installed in all facets of the industry by 2030, elevating its capacity to be fully competitive in the global marketplace in terms of quality, quantity and price.

Hoang underscores the fact that last year Vietnam had 23 products with average export value of more than US$1 billion each, all poised for significant growth in the coming years.

Prospects for wood processing

As a case in point, Minister Hoang says the wood processing industry has distinct advantages favouring both industrial production and export growth, The country has relatively untapped plantation forests and high quality wood products that world consumers highly appreciate.
 

Vietnamese timber products with their high quality and clear country of origin (C/O) are in high demand globally, which creates an incentive for the industry to fulfill its set targets.

This is the first time the national industrial development strategy has incorporated the wood processing industry.

This is a good signal for the industry which faces many opportunities in the global export market, says Huynh Van Hanh, Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Handicraft and Wood Industry Association (HAWA).

China is facing face anti-dumping lawsuits in a number of countries which has opened the door for Vietnamese businesses to penetrate the markets.

No country in the world which both develops the wood processing industry and raises forest coverage likes Vietnam, Hanh notes.

What to do?

To obtain the set goals, Giam suggests that the sector should strictly implement important measures, such as selective investment attraction mechanisms to weed out the weak investment groups in favour of attracting strong and highly reputable multinational groups into key projects.

Procedures to screen technologies so that only projects with proven or technologies that have been thoroughly researched and have a high probability of success are implemented is a key measure.

Clarifying the list of sectors that fully or partly receive investment incentives is of prime importance, he says, adding this will allow for much improved control in developing the support industry and services.

Last but not least, Minister Hoang notes that the strategy does not focus on State-owned groups and corporations but on the non-state sector towards a target for joining the global value chain to supply industrial products to the world market.