Nghe An aims to become a major wood processing and export center in the region.

Finding solutions to promote production, processing and export of forest products in the period 2021 - 2025

(Baonghean.vn) - On the morning of December 1, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development coordinated with Nghe An province to organize a conference on solutions to promote production, processing and export of forest products in 2021 and the period 2021 - 2025. The conference is part of the series of celebrations of the 75th anniversary of the Vietnam Forestry sector.

Advantages and potentials from forestry production and processing

Comrade Hoang Nghia Hieu - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee emphasized that the conference is an important event, extremely meaningful for the socio-economic development of the province; an opportunity for Nghe An province to express gratitude as well as the desire to call for investors to pay attention and implement investment projects in the field of forestry and forest product processing in the area.

Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and provincial leaders visited wood processing products on display at the conference on Solutions to promote forest product production, processing and export in 2021 and the period 2021-2025 held on the morning of December 1 in Nghe An. Photo: Thu Huyen

Located in the North Central region, Nghe An is the province with the largest forest and forestry land area in the region and the whole country, with a total planned forestry land area of ​​1,166,109 hectares, accounting for 70.7% of the total natural area in the whole province; forest resources are extremely rich and diverse, providing potential raw materials for all industries producing goods from forest products and environmental services. The whole province currently has 965,057 hectares of forest land, accounting for 82.8% of the total forestry land area, the total planted forest reserve of the whole province is estimated at 9.6 million m³, the average annual mining output reaches from 1.2 - 1.5 million m³.

The Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee said that the province has a synchronous transportation system including roads, railways, seaports, airports, border gates... connecting with the entire North Central region and the whole country, creating favorable conditions for economic development in general and the forestry processing and export industry in particular.

During the period 2010 - 2020, the work of forest management, protection, use, development; processing and trading of forest products has achieved certain achievements. The rate of forest development in the province has grown quite rapidly, the annual increase in planted forest area has exceeded the rate of forest capital degradation and brought real economic efficiency to local people.

Speaking at the conference, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Hoang Nghia Hieu said that Nghe An is focusing on becoming a large wood processing and export center in the region. Photo: Thu Huyen

However, in addition to the potentials, strengths and achievements, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Hoang Nghia Hieu also frankly pointed out that the forestry production sector from seed production, afforestation, intensive forest cultivation, forest exploitation, to the wood processing industry and non-timber forest products in the North Central region in general and Nghe An province in particular has not really developed, and has not formed a value chain. Exported wood products are mainly in raw form, through many intermediary stages, without deep processing products, without creating a brand, not competitive enough in the domestic and foreign markets, so the economic efficiency is not high. The provinces in the region invest in developing the wood processing and non-timber forest products sector in a fragmented and spontaneous manner, not really focusing on applying new science and technology, high technology in production, especially lacking connectivity between the provinces in the region.

Pu Hoat Forest, Hanh Dich Commune, Que Phong. Photo: PV

According to the Prime Minister's direction in Decision No. 38/2016/QD-TTg dated June 14, 2016 on promulgating a number of policies on forest protection, development and investment in supporting infrastructure, assigning public service tasks to agricultural and forestry companies, clearly stating that the State supports investment in 3high-tech forestry zonein the three regions of the North, Central and South, as a driving force to promote the development of the forestry industry in general and the wood processing and non-timber forest products industry in particular in the region. However, up to this point, no high-tech forestry zone has been invested in in the country. At the same time, according to the national orientation, wood and wood products are currently ranked as one of the 13 key national products and in Directive 08/CT-TTg dated March 28, 2019 of the Prime Minister, striving to bring the export turnover of wood and non-timber forest products to 20 billion USD by 2025, bringing deeply processed products with Vietnamese brands.

Attention to investment in high-tech forestry zones

Emphasizing the role of science and technology development, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Hoang Nghia Hieu said that the application of high technology in the forestry sector in particular and the agricultural sector in general is increasingly demonstrating outstanding efficiency in the management and production process.

With the inevitable requirements of practice, the investment in building "High-tech forestry zone in the North Central region in Nghe An province" has become more urgent. Recently, the Project has been approved in principle byPrime MinisterCurrently, Nghe An province, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and related ministries have basically completed the procedures to submit the Project to the Prime Minister for consideration and approval.

Thanh Thuy and Thanh Chuong residents develop forestry seedlings. Photo by Thu Huyen

The high-tech forestry zone in the North Central region in Nghe An province, group 1, is a zone with a favorable location, located in the center of the North Central region, on the East-West economic corridor, with a synchronous infrastructure system (road, railway, seaport, aviation), industrial parks, concentrated economic zones, and at the same time, this is an area with abundant human resources, skilled and technical in wood and non-timber forest product processing, with rich and diverse resources and a gradually formed logistics system.

The project “High-tech forestry zone in the North Central region in Nghe An province” has 03 functional sub-zones. The project enjoys investment incentives on land use fees, land use tax; support for infrastructure investment; import tax, corporate income; research, technology transfer; support for human resource training, market development...

"The goal by 2025 is for the wood and non-timber forest products processing industry to become a driving economic sector in production and export of the entire North Central region in general and Nghe An province in particular; Building Nghe An into a large wood production, processing and export center in the North Central region and the Central region" - Vice Chairman Hoang Nghia Hieu emphasized.

Tuong Duong - Nghe An cajuput forest. Photo: Ho Phuong

This project will contribute to promoting the advantages and strengths of Nghe An province as well as the North Central region to manage and sustainably develop the industry and effectively restructure the forestry industry, contributing to making wood and non-timber forest product processing a driving economic sector in production and export of the region, well implementing the national orientation - Becoming one of three high-tech forestry zones oriented to be built in the country according to Decision 38 of the Prime Minister. Striving to bring the export turnover of wood and forest products in the 2020 - 2025 period of the North Central region to about 2.0 billion USD, oriented to reach about 3.0 billion USD by 2035, participating in the export turnover of wood and non-timber forest products of the whole country by 2025 reaching from 18.0 to 20.0 billion USD.

With the support and attention of the Central Government and the participation of the entire political system in the province, Nghe An province is determined to create a breakthrough as well as promote the forestry industry and especially the wood processing production of the North Central region to develop strongly, making the North Central region become the key development center of the wood processing and forestry industry of the whole Central region. I call on investors to pay attention and learn about investing in forestry projects in Nghe An province. The locality is committed to creating the most favorable conditions for investors in handling administrative procedures, ensuring that investors enjoy the highest investment incentives according to the Government's regulations.

Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Hoang Nghia Hieu