Vietnam leads ASEAN in wooden furniture exports

“Thailand has proposed the establishment of a regional furniture manufacturing cluster to help improve the efficiency, productivity and competitiveness of ASEAN manufacturers ahead of the launch of the ASEAN Economic Community,” said Dhanakorn Kasetrsuwan, Vice Chairman of the ASEAN Furniture Industries Council (AFIC).

When ASEAN member countries become a single market, expected by 2015, the region will be more open to the flow of capital, information and labor, Mr. Dhanakorn added. And if regional producers can cooperate and keep prices competitive, the total value of furniture trade in the region will continue to increase.

Vietnam achieved wooden furniture export value of up to 3.9 billion USD in 2011.

Currently AFIC has 7 members:Thailand,Malaysia,Singapore, VietnameseMale,Myanmar,IndonesiaandPhilippines. In which VietnamMaleis the Association's largest wooden furniture exporter with a value of up to 3.9 billion USD in 2011, and Thailand ranked fourth ($1.1 billion) last year.

Meanwhile, according to the Kasikorn Research Center, foreign direct investment (FDI) flowing into Thailand has declined significantly over the past five years and dropped to only about 8% of total FDI flowing into the ASEAN market.

Singaporestill holds the leading position in attracting foreign investment capital and accounts for 49% of total FDI inflows into the region. Malaysia and Vietnam account for 11% and 10% of total FDI into the ASEAN market, respectively, while FDI inflows into Indonesia have increased from an average of 13% to 17% last year.

Japanese investment capital in Thailand also decreased to 21% in the first 10 months of 2011, while Japanese investment activities tended to increase significantly in the Indonesian and Vietnamese markets./.

According to Vietnam+