Forest products processing to become active
Ha Noi, Jan. 10 (VNA) -- The Forestry Corporation is set to develop the forest product processing industry into an economic spearhead in the coming years.
The corporation will not only invest in producing chipboard and furniture and processing forest products for domestic use and export but also develop tourism, machinery manufacture and other services.
The corporation plans to earn an export turnover of USD 100 million between 2001 and 2005.
It will plant 500,000 ha of industrial forests, build two chipboard mills with a combined capacity of 84,000 cu. m. a year in the northern province of Hoa Binh and in the central province of Quang Ngai, upgrade Viet Tri chipboard mill in the northern province of Phu Tho and raise its capacity to 25,000 cu. m. a year.
A 16,500 cu. m.-a-year chipboard mill in the northern province of Thai Nguyen, a furniture mill in Ha Noi and a 54,000 cu. m.-a-year chipboard mill in the central highlands province of Gia Lai will be officially put into operation by the end of this year.
Those projects are expected to generate jobs, expand the country's forest coverage and use materials from planted forests.
The corporation obtained a revenue of VND 1,434 billion (USD 102.4 million) in 2000, as against VND 689 billion (49.2 million) in 1996.--VNA
