Director of the provincial Trade and Tourism Department, Nguyen Thi Dien, said that in the first 10 months of the year, the province earned more than $941 million, up 52.9 per cent year-on-year. In 2004, the province earned only $416 million, Dien noted. The department’s statistics showed an increase of more than 50 per cent in the growth rate of wood exports since the country’s admission into the World Trade Organisation. Binh Duong presently includes 360 woodwork producers, 100 of which are foreign invested enterprises. Foreign-invested firms have so far remained the leading producers thanks to advantages in capital access, marketing and material resources. Viet Nam imports around 70 per cent of wood industry materials. However, as technology improves and investment strengthens, Vietnamese firms are also making their mark. Tien Timber Group is one such Vietnamese firm. The 100 per cent domestic-invested group recently set up a 50ha timber warehouse in Tan Uyen District. The warehouse deals with raw materials and helps other Vietnamese woodwork producers, whose financial status is restricted, to access raw materials. "With the establishment of the warehouse, we expected to help Vietnamese woodworks producers shorten the time it took to receive production materials to within a month. Previously, it used to take the producers roughly two or three months," said group general director, Nguyen Phi Tien. Another successful business is the Truong Thanh Woodwork Group, which plans to list on domestic and foreign securities markets soon. The group owns a large plant in the Nam Tan Uyen Industrial Zone. The complex currently churns out 30,000cu.m of timber for local and export demands. For future development, Truong Thanh mapped out a 2020 plan, where it will cultivate 40,000ha of forestry in southern provinces for materials. For all wood exporters in Binh Duong Province, business may soon be easier as Gosaco Joint Stock Company is investing in a 50ha timber market in Tan Uyen District. Gosaco general director, Lam Trong Son, said first stage investment capital is estimated at roughly VND40 billion ($2.5 million). — VNS
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