Viet Nam’s forestry industry sews seeds of change
16 | 07 | 2007
Greater investment from the private sector is key for the growth of the timber industry, reduction in rural poverty and the further protection of the environment, delegates attending a seminar in Ha Noi, heard on May 8.
Attracting investment is the most effective way for us to fulfil our targets of providing employment for 2 million forestry workers and thereby slash poverty for 70 percent of impoverished forestry-based subsistence households, said Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Hua Duc Nhi. The employment targets are part of a broader national forestry development strategy for the 2006-20 period that encompasses industry growth, labour training, diversification of plantations and environmental protection.
To date private companies have invested the lion's share of resources into the fledgling industry and now account for ownership of over 75 percent of total plantation acreage throughout the country
VNA