The Webinar "Positioning the Domestic Market: Growth Drivers for Vietnam's Timber Industry in the Future", co-organized by the Vietnam Timber and Forest Product Association (VIFOREST), Ho Chi Minh City Handicraft and Wood Industry Association (HAWA), Forest Trends, and the EUDR Forestry Network, took place on August 6, 2026.
Why the Domestic Market Needs Repositioning For many years, the image of Vietnam's timber industry has been primarily associated with export activities—a sector achieving a turnover of approximately 17 billion USD per year and receiving special attention from businesses, policymakers, and financial and development organizations. Meanwhile, the domestic market has been largely neglected: lacking data on its size, raw material inputs, output product structure, or the technological level of supply chain participants.
This lack of attention not only disadvantages enterprises, craft villages, and forest-growing households participating in the domestic market, but also negatively impacts exports. The Section 301 investigation by the U.S. government during 2020–2021—stemming in part from Vietnam's import of risky tropical timber for its domestic market—is clear evidence of the close link between these two markets.
From the perspective of enterprises, some reasons why the domestic market has not been adequately invested in include: domestic products are primarily “made-to-order” goods, making large-scale production difficult to reduce costs; sales channels are complex and not standardized; slow liquidity; and the market lacks clear quality standards, causing consumers to focus primarily on price rather than quality. Nevertheless, some pioneering enterprise and craft village models have begun shifting to using domestic plantation timber, producing high-quality, environmentally friendly products, while also contributing to improving incomes for forest-growing households. The webinar was organized to assess the current state of the domestic market, explore pioneering models, and discuss solutions to promote its development in the coming period.
Domestic Market: A Pillar Alongside Exports
Opening the discussion session, Mr. Phung Quoc Man (HAWA) emphasized the view that the domestic market needs to be established as a pillar of the timber and furniture industry, parallel to exports, to diversify outputs and increase resilience against global market fluctuations. According to him, the domestic market "should not be a contingency plan, but an option parallel to the export market"—mastering the domestic market will serve as a springboard to introduce products to the ASEAN market. HAWA proposed 5 key solution groups: correctly positioning the role of the domestic market with state support in developing distribution systems and brand building; researching policies that prioritize the use of domestic products in public procurement; leveraging export achievements for the domestic market; conducting systematic communication to build trust and pride in domestic products; and investing in the development of a complete domestic market ecosystem, with the participation of businesses, associations, and reliable databases.
Mr. Ngo Sy Hoai (VIFOREST) provided further insights on scale: Vietnamese people currently spend about 50 USD/person/year on timber products, corresponding to a domestic market value of approximately 5 billion USD; if demand drivers—housing, public procurement, biomass energy—are well-organized, the market could reach approximately 7.35 billion USD by 2030, with a growth rate of 7-9% per year. He believes that the biggest weakness currently is not a lack of demand, but a lack of market infrastructure: the market is fragmented, lacks common standards, lacks service brands, and has weak data, leading consumers to pay without adequate assurance of safe, legal products. According to him, domestic supply “does not lack timber, but lacks standardized timber.”
Mr. Le Duc Nghia (An Cuong Wood) noted that estimates of the domestic market value (around 5–7 billion USD) currently lack official figures, indicating a significant information gap. He believes that the domestic market is currently fragmented, lacking criteria and standards, and needs to be operated professionally like the export market. From the business perspective, he proposed a decisive shift to using plantation timber and legal timber, with transparent origins, professionalizing distribution channels and after-sales services, cooperating rather than working independently, and simultaneously investing in design, added value, and digital transformation. Following up, Mr. Vu Hai Bang (Woodsland) emphasized that to develop the domestic market, enterprises need to build a distribution network.
Opinions at the webinar showed a consensus that the domestic market needs to be recognized as a strategic pillar of Vietnam's timber industry, rather than merely a secondary market alongside exports. To realize this potential, all speakers pointed out the urgent need for building market infrastructure, standardizing raw timber origins, transparent information and data, as well as closer linkages between enterprises, industry associations, and state management agencies.
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