Linking with people to develop sustainable raw materials for MDF factories

(Baonghean) - Comrade Ho Xuan Hung - former Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development gave an interview to Nghe An Newspaper about the potential for economic development of Nghe An forests.

PV:Dear comrade! Having worked as Chairman of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee and Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, how do you evaluate the potential for forestry economic development in Nghe An?

Comrade Ho Xuan Hung:Nghe An has over 80% of forestry land, 70% of the population lives in 11 districts and towns, both highland and lowland. Nghe An forests have many typical features of Vietnam's forest vegetation and are important raw material forests for exploitation and development of industries. Along with the diversity and richness of terrain, Nghe An forests have many advantages for tourism development. In the West of Nghe An are tourist areas associated with Pu Mat and Pu Huong nature reserves, natural landscapes such as Sao Va waterfall, Khe Kem waterfall, ...

Comrade Ho Xuan Hung (far right) and the working group surveyed the raw material area for the MDF Factory in Yen Thanh district. Photo: HN

Characteristics of Nghe An mountainous region, low mountainous areas have great potential for development of fruit trees and forestry trees, high mountainous areas have high potential for using forestry trees and developing other medicinal plants under the forest canopy. This is the strength of the province. Nghe An's export results in 2015 show that the proportion of forestry accounts for the majority, replacing the products we were previously interested in such as aquatic products. In particular, Nghe An's planted forest land has great potential, thick soil layer, high humidity, creating favorable conditions for developing forestry trees.

Along with natural conditions, in recent times, the Central Government as well as the province have identified Western Nghe An as a key economic region and have had many policies to encourage and prioritize development. In particular, on July 30, 2013, the Politburo issued Resolution No. 26-NQ/TW on the direction and tasks of developing Nghe An province until 2020 (in which the Politburo identified Western Nghe An as one of the three key economic regions of the province, along with the Nam Thanh - Bac Nghe region, the Nam Nghe - Bac Ha region). Then, on December 4, 2013, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 2355/QD-TTg approving the Project on socio-economic development of Western Nghe An province until 2020... to create favorable conditions for businesses to invest in Western Nghe An.

PV:The potential is huge, but so far we have not exploited it to its maximum efficiency. What do you think is the reason?

Comrade Ho Xuan Hung:That's right! So far, we have exploited too little of that potential. We have only focused on exploiting raw processing, low forest productivity, and exploiting young forests. The reason is that the natural conditions as well as the socio-economic conditions of the Western Nghe An region are very difficult, the socio-economic infrastructure has not met the requirements, especially the transport infrastructure, information and communication infrastructure; the planning of raw material areas associated with processing is still limited; the quality of human resources is still low, especially in the industrial and service sectors... These reasons make the investment costs in the districts in the Western region high, the investment rate is high, so the investment efficiency is low. As I said above, the Central and the province have had many policies to attract businesses to invest in the mountainous region in general. However, those policies are not strong enough to "attract" businesses, especially large businesses with strong financial potential.

I am very pleased that Nghe An has attracted the MDF wood processing project to invest in the locality and now the factory has come into operation, with the need for at least 40,000 - 50,000 hectares of forest to ensure development. That is for phase 1, but if we open a wide wood panel production line, as well as increase the capacity of phase 2 for MDF from 130,000 m3/year to 400,000 m3/year, then at least one and a half times that area will be needed. I am very optimistic about the success of this project, but with the condition that there must be enough raw material areas for the processing factory and an almost decisive factor, that is, besides expanding the area for the factory, it is very necessary to double or triple the productivity of planted forests at present. Second, if we keep on harvesting the tree species every 10-15 years, we will not be able to keep up and there will not be enough raw materials. We must choose species that can be harvested in 7-8 years; that is a mandatory requirement. Third, we cannot reclaim the land of the people, we cannot push the people out of the forest, we must find a way to connect with the people and give them a certain amount of land. How can we connect with the people? First, it must be our own species; second, our own technology; third, we must guarantee 100% of the products. That is the best connection and the most sustainable development for the MDF factory.

Recently, the province has assigned some Youth Volunteer Teams to the Nghe An MDF Wood Processing Factory such as Youth Volunteer Team 3 and Youth Volunteer Team 6 - this is a good direction. The MDF project has taken a certain amount of land - where they will plant sample materials, where they will plant control forests with the people, the rest must mainly be linked with the people. In particular, there are policies to promote links between businesses and farmers; the MDF Wood Factory has had a number of policies such as coordinating with the State to invest in infrastructure, technology, policies to support loans for the people...

PV:To promote the potential strengths of Nghe An forestry, what do you think the province needs to do in the coming time?

Comrade Ho Xuan Hung:The problem is that the potential of the West is huge, but the important thing is how to exploit the strengths of the forestry economy. If we only export block timber or boards, chopped wood, paper wood, it is not effective; we must switch to finished products such as MDF, wide wood panels. First of all, to do so, we must call on businesses to come in, they will organize large investments, expand links with households.

Large-size MDF products of Nghe An Wood Factory. Photo: HN

Along with that is the introduction of high quality varieties. In recent years, I am very pleased that Nghe An has had new varieties and has achieved high productivity. Now the productivity of Nghe An's planted forests is above the national average. While the whole country has only reached 90 cubic meters/ha, Nghe An has over 100 cubic meters/ha. But that variety still does not give the highest productivity because currently in some places in the country, the productivity of planted forests has reached 150 - 160 cubic meters/ha, and Nghe An has the ability to reach this level. To do so, Nghe An must soon build a Forestry Seedling Center. For example, in Australia, there are currently 105 types of acacia varieties from 90 - 200 cubic meters/ha. We must choose suitable varieties for high productivity to implement so that people's income can improve. When people's income increases, they will be attached to the forest. I understand that currently, May Forestry Joint Stock Company has a plan to invest in a forestry seed center using tissue culture, this is a very encouraging signal from the policy of developing sustainable raw material areas.

Second, Nghe An must soon develop products under the forest canopy, which we are still behind many other localities. Products of trees and animals under the forest canopy must both be used for short-term support and for long-term increase in direct income for forest growers and forest protectors. In the future, the province must focus more on areas such as introducing high-yield varieties and exploiting under the forest canopy. Whether it is successful or not, increasing income for people or not, depends on exploiting under the forest canopy such as planting medicinal plants, raising many poultry, then income will increase, and when income increases, they will be attached to the forest.

Third, develop ecotourism; Nghe An forests have great tourism potential, few places have it like Nghe An, which has waterfalls and unique characteristics of rare ethnic groups, and those areas are not far from the national highway. To create conditions for tourists to visit. It is impossible for the people to organize tourism, then connect with businesses that organize large tours in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, which are key points that can create conditions to connect relic tourism with ecotourism to attract tourists to stay overnight.

Fourth, Nghe An needs to exploit some local products to serve tourists, because it is too monotonous and tourists almost go home empty-handed while we are fully capable. Previously, we focused on marine products, but from now until 2020, marine products serving tourists will definitely face many difficulties due to the impact of the recent marine environmental incident in the Central region, so we must immediately create products from the forest. We have many products from the forest, from forestry land, for example, tea products, medicinal plants, and special animals from the forest that we can create highlights for...

In addition, it is necessary to promote the role of state management agencies in clearly establishing forest planning. Carry out land and forest allocation so that people can proactively organize production and business; promote the process of joint ventures and associations between people and businesses in the process of buying and selling raw materials, creating sustainable mechanisms such as through cooperatives. Invest in infrastructure and infrastructure to facilitate exploitation and production, reduce costs of afforestation and forest exploitation, etc.

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PV:Thank you very much, comrade!

Thanh Le(Perform)