Webinar spotlights furniture trade opportunities in U.K.

Held by the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (Vietrade) in collaboration with the Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of Ho Chi Minh City and the Vietnamese Trade Office in the U.K., the event brought together a large number of firms in the wood and furniture industry from both countries.

Participants join the event. (Screen captured)

It provided an overview of the U.K.’s furniture market, consumer sentiment and trade policy on imported furniture, and forecast potential trends of furniture business in the European country. British experts answered Vietnamese firms’ questions about the market and briefed them on major furniture fairs, notably the January Furniture Show, one of the biggest in the U.K.

It also featured a business-to-business (B2B) matching session between U.K. buyers and Vietnamese manufacturers.

In his opening remarks, Vietrade Director Vu Ba Phu said Vietnam’s furniture exports have seen strong growth despite impacts of COVID-19, disrupted supply chain and rising shipping costs and input prices. Last year, the country shipped abroad more than 14.8 billion USD worth of wood and furniture, up 19.7 percent year on year, making it the world’s largest exporter.

Vietrade Director Vu Ba Phu speaks at the webinar. (Screen captured)

In 2021, Vietnam exported nearly 267 million USD worth of wood and furniture to the U.K., a year-on-year increase of 16.4 percent. The shipments exceeded 72 million USD in the first quarter of this year, up 14 percent.

Source: VNA