It also marked an increase of nearly 8.4 per cent year-on-year. The US, China, Japan and South Korea were the four largest importers of wood and wooden products from Viet Nam.

The Viet Nam Administration of Forestry under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) attributed the result to restructuring in the forestry sector with a wide range of high-value production models.

In addition to this, development in the domestic wood market drove investment in forestry production. Some 3,500 private and foreign direct investment businesses have diversified their forestry products and exported them to 100 countries, mainly the US, Japan, South Korea and China as well as to the EU.

To improve the productivity and quality of the forests, many localities have applied intensive cultivation models to boost afforestation while strictly managing seedlings.

Nine million cubic metres of wood were exploited from planted forests in the first six months of the year. This comprises 50 per cent of the yearly plan and is up by 2.3 per cent from the same period last year.

Along with branching out forest areas, MARD evaluated the development of cooperatives and forestry value chain in some provinces, including Son La, Quang Ninh, Quang Tri, Dak Nong and Ca Mau.

Five pilot models on economic cooperatives and forestry value chain are being established in these localities.