The American Hardwood Export Council showed its commitment to a Vietnamese partnership with more than 30 members joining the pavilion at the recent VietnamWood show held at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre in Ho Chi Minh City. A further 10 booked their own booths.Source: Timberbiz
This strong showing underlines the commitment of American timber producers to growing trade partnerships.
A busy four days attracted timber traders and industry specifiers from across the region.
Tripp Pryor, The American Hardwood Export Council’s International Program Manager said: “It’s really helped our members to have direct contact with customers and manufacturers and hear first-hand how this market is growing and developing.
“It’s a very important market for us now, a larger volume is going to Vietnam than even to Canada, our next-door neighbour. It’s growing 20% so far this year.”
Bert Gary, CEO of CLC Hardwoods, an AHEC member said that it was “a great trade show to be at. Lots of folks here who are excited about Vietnam, it will be a big part of our future”.
Maggie Peng, General Manager of Blue Mountain Hardwoods said: “We are very positive about Vietnam, especially in the current climate. It is still developing and has some way to grow. We need to communicate with customers. AHEC has done a lot of publicity for us and we hope this will help speed up the process of education on American hardwood.”
John Chan, Regional Director of The American Hardwood Export Council for Southeast Asia and Greater China said: “Over the next year, we aim to create programs to help to develop domestic consumption in Vietnam. We will create programs to influence designers – architectural, interior and furniture designers – who are the specifiers of materials used, to learn more about the applications of American hardwood.
“We already see that people are interested in American hardwood but most of these at this point, are from trade and processing. When the economy grows here, the domestic market will grow, the end users will also be interested in American hardwood. I see great potential to develop this market.”
