Nguyễn Chánh Phương, deputy chairman of the Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of HCM City, speaks at the press briefing to introduce the Vietnam Furniture Matching Week 2022 in HCM City on March 29. — VNS photo

HCM CITY — The second Việt Nam Furniture Matching Week to be held from April 13 to 20 will feature a series of online and on-site activities to link up Vietnamese manufacturers and foreign buyers.

Its highlight will be the Furniture Sourcing Day on April 13 and 14 in HCM City to enable local manufacturers, representative offices and sourcing agencies and supporting services providers to meet, exchange information, showcase the latest and key products, and explore business opportunities.

The on-site Furniture Sourcing Day will include a furniture exhibition by Vietnamese manufacturers and a ‘Café Connection’ for businesses involved in specific sectors such as indoor, outdoor, sofa, and kitchen cabinet to meet.

It will also include seminars on topics related to raw materials, logistics and digital transformation.

Around 500 manufacturers and supporting services providers and over 150 representative offices and sourcing agencies will take part in it.

Nguyễn Chánh Phương, deputy chairman of the Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of HCM City (HAWA), said: “The number of representative offices and sourcing agencies participating in the event this year is 50 per cent higher than in the maiden event last year, and include all large sourcing firms in the US, EU and Japan.”

A B2B matchmaking at the Vietnam Furniture Matching Week 2021. This year the event will be held from April 13 to 20 featuring a series of online and on-site activities. — VNS Photo

The online activities to be held on Hopefairs.com will help local manufactures approach buyers from around the world.

Over 100 local furniture manufacturers will show off their wares at the online exhibition at Hopefairs.com, with 360 degrees showrooms with a mini-site designed for each manufacturer to provide full information, while the online B2B matching system will enable local manufactures and international buyers to directly book appointments, said Dương Thị Minh Tuệ, a member of HAWA’s executive board.

A series of webinars with in-depth analysis of some key markets such as the US, the UK, Australia and those in the RCEP trade deal will be held, she said.

Phương said demand for furniture is on the rise in the global market, and many local firms have orders until the third quarter of the year or even the full year.

But the pandemic and recent global conflict have affected the supply chain and raw material supply, pushing up logistics costs, he said.

“VFMW 2022 is organised … also to create trade connections in the furniture industry eco-system so that businesses can approach the best ancillary services, transportation and testing in the industry's supply chain.”

Held by HAWA in collaboration with the Việt Nam Trade Promotion Agency and the city's Department of Industry and Trade, the event promises to be one of the biggest in the country’s wood processing industry this year.

Phương said exports of wood and wooden products were worth US$3.94 billion in the first three months of the year, an increase of 3 per cent year-on-year.

The industry is expected to fulfil its export target of $16 billion this year, he added. — VNS