The export value of Vietnam's bamboo products is currently about US$300-400 million per year, not commensurate with the potential. Photo: ST

Exporting US$300-400 million per year

Looking at an overview of Vietnam's bamboo industry, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoang Yen, Deputy Director of the Bureau of Economic Cooperation and Rural Development (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), said that the total bamboo area in Vietnam was about 1.5 million hectares, distributed in almost all provinces across the country, there were 37 of 63 provinces with an area of more than 10,000 ha.

With 6.5 billion trees, the annual amount of trees exploited was about 500-600 million trees, equivalent to 2.5-3 million tons. Main products include raw materials/construction materials; mats/blinds; woven bamboo; household tools. Currently, each year Vietnam exported bamboo products about US$300-400 million.

Mr. Nguyen Van Dien, Director of Forestry Production Development Department, General Department of Forestry (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), added that Vietnam's bamboo products had been exported to nearly 100 countries and territories, including five main export markets – United States, Japan, Germany, France, and the Netherlands.

Currently, there are 251 bamboo processing enterprises nationwide, of which 95% were small and medium enterprises; Medium and large enterprises (over VND15 billion) account for about 5%. However, the application of science and technology by enterprises had not been focused. Currently, there were about 10,000 employees working at bamboo processing enterprises, about 300,000 rural workers were involved in bamboo planting, exploitation and processing activities, but most of them had not been trained at schools.

Mr. Pham Quoc Khanh, Head of the Campaign Committee to establish the Vietnam Bamboo Association, said that the current bamboo export was not corresponding to the potential. He gave evidence that in 2019, Vietnam's bamboo export value only reached US$348 million. Meanwhile, the world bamboo industry was worth more than US$57 billion.

On a global scale, the main bamboo export markets in the world today include China, EU, Philippines, Canada, Mexico, Vietnam, India, United States, Thailand, Indonesia.

In particular, China occupies an overwhelming position compared to other export markets. China is currently leading not only in output but also in technical capacity and quality. The clearest evidence is that in 2019, China accounted for 67% of the total bamboo export value in the world. Meanwhile, Vietnam's market share was only 3%.

Need a clear legal corridor

The size of the global bamboo market is expected to reach approximately US$83 billion by 2028; the growth rate in the period 2021-2028 is about 5.7% per year. Therefore, processing and exporting bamboo products is considered a very potential industry for Vietnam's agriculture.

However, according to Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoang Yen, Vietnam's bamboo industry is facing many difficulties in sustainable development. Currently, there are very few good seed sources and there are signs of seed degradation. The area is shrinking, farming level is low, production scale is fragmented and small; infrastructure for production has not yet been invested; processing technology is backward compared to the world. Notably, currently there is a lack of policies to support development and production and business; at the same time, the work of trade promotion, advertising and introduction of bamboo is still weak and lacks market information.

Some agricultural experts said that the potential for Vietnam's bamboo industry is great, but the raw material area is still not really concentrated. Besides, bamboo processing activities are quite fragmented. There are not many large enterprises specializing in processing bamboo products. The absence of a specific standard and legal corridor for the cultivation, processing and use of bamboo materials in economic activities of Vietnam is currently the biggest barrier that makes the bamboo industry chain unable to connect and realize its full potential.

In addition to developing standards, legal corridors, and recommendations to promote the development of processing and exporting bamboo is to invest more in production processes and facilities; invest in product development to differentiate it from Chinese products (e.g. flooring of different sizes and colours); reflect European styles and tastes in developed products (e.g. European crafts trends); and build a solid industry marketing plan for both domestic and export markets.

From the perspective of export enterprises, Mr. Thai Dai Phong, Director of Duc Phong Co., Ltd., said that the company specialized in the production of bamboo and handicrafts for export. However, enterprises also face many difficulties in linking activities with farmers such as difficulty in keeping commitments between enterprises and producers, especially production plans, quantity of products, completion time, and product quality. It is very difficult to bind the responsibility (usually enterprises bear all risks).

To overcome difficulties, it is necessary to have the government's involvement such as strong concern and solving difficulties for the people; building, managing and establishing craft villages, cooperatives and cooperative groups; has a clear mechanism, associated with rights and responsibilities. "It is suggested that the authorities at all levels pay attention and have many policies to support people in the production of agricultural and forestry products," Mr. Phong said.

Commenting that many places have not yet fully determined the role, position and value of bamboo, Mr. Tran Thanh Nam, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development said: "The connection between processing and exporting enterprises and growers is still fragmented, not concentrated, especially in the construction of large material areas. Therefore, in addition to rebuilding the concentrated bamboo material area, currently the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is proposing to the Ministry of Home Affairs to establish the Vietnam Bamboo Association. This will be one of the premises and the first basis to connect the Vietnamese bamboo industry in the new period.”