The two-day event, which was held in both in-person and online formats, was attended by ASEAN countries, the ASEAN Secretariat, leaders of the Da Nang City Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, and representatives of international organisations.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Tran Quang Bao, Director of the Forestry Department under the Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, highly appreciated the efforts of the AWG-FM in connecting and supporting ASEAN countries in developing sustainable forestry in the region.

He said that ASEAN is a dynamic economic development region, with cultural diversity and rich forest resources.

He noted that the development of the forestry industry in ASEAN countries has made a significant contribution to boosting economic growth, creating jobs, and reducing poverty in rural and mountainous areas, while also facilitating environment protection and the prevention of greenhouse gas emissions.

However, the industry still faces many difficulties and challenges, requiring increased sharing and exchange of experiences as well as closer cooperation among ASEAN nations to meet the goal of sustainable forestry development.

The AWG-FM Working Group was established in 2005 in response to emerging issues on forest management. It aims to enhance sustainable management of forest resources and combat illegal forest harvesting and its associated trade in timber and timber products.

It also seeks to provide effective networking and partnering with other institutions, agencies, instruments, and processes working on forest management issues at the regional and global levels.

Vietnam, Japan to step up forest management cooperation

Vietnam and Japan will enhance forest management collaboration under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in a recent working visit to the East Asian country by Director of the Department of Forestry Tran Quang Bao.

Forestry exports up 47% in Jan-Feb

Vietnam earned 2.68 billion USD from forestry exports in the first two months of 2024, up 47.4% year-on-year, according to the Department of Forestry under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Bac Giang plants more than 1,300 hectares of concentrated forests

BAC GIANG - Carrying out the "Tree Planting Festival - Eternal gratitude to Uncle Ho" movement on the occasion of the 2024 New Year, the Year of the Dragon in associated with programme to grow one billion trees, so far, Bac Giang province has planted 1,303 hectares of concentrated forests (accounting for 16.3 percent of the plan, up 176 hectares compared to the same period in 2023) and more than one million scattered trees of all kinds (increasing over 500,000 trees against the figure in 2023).

Large-timber forest area to be expanded to 1 million ha by 2030

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) set a target of growing about 1 million ha of large-sized timber forests nationwide by 2030.

Vietnam fully taps CPTPP to push agro-forestry-fishery exports

Vietnam has recorded tangible changes in agro-forestry-fishery exports thanks to preferential tariffs in trade with member countries of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) after five years the trade pact took effect.

FTAs help Bac Giang bring agro-forestry products to world

BAC GIANG - Participating in free trade agreements (FTAs), especially new generation ones, has helped promote production, export and import activities throughout the country. FTAs also offer opportunities for businesses and cooperatives in Bac Giang province to step up production and processing of goods, especially agro- forestry products, to meet international integration requirements.

Source: NDO