Developing an Agricultural Research
and Development Priority
Framework
for Vietnam
Forestry Sub-Sector Workshop
Data and Information Sheets:
Areas of Research & Development
Opportunity (ARDOs)
ARDO 1. Large Timber Production
ARDO 2. Pulp and Small Log Products
ARDO 3. Bamboo and Rattan
ARDO 4. Non Timber Forest Products
ARDO 5. Bio-diversity and Conservation
ARDO 6. Environment and Services
ARDO 7. Forest Policy
June 2007
ForestryPriority Workshop. Data & Information Sheets
1
ARDO 1. Large Timber Production
1. ARDO DEFINITION
1.1. National Goal: Enhance the provision of large timber from natural forests and
plantations to meet the needs of the wood processing and furniture industries to increase
exports and national use of domestically produced timber, and reduce the import of
timber.
1.2. Research scope: Research to improve productivity and quality of timber from
natural and plantation forests; selection of species, tree improvement, planning and site-
species specification; improvement of silviculture techniques, harvesting, wood
treatment and processing techniques and marketing of timber and products of timber;
sustainable forest management practices.
1.3. Coverage: -
 Natural forests: native tree species commonly harvested with a focus on less

gardens and scattered planting, providing raw materials for industry, and reducing
pressure on natural forests.
 Wood processing industries and forest products to export are rapidly developing
in the recent years, giving an important contribution to export turn over of the
country.
However:
 Area, quality and bio-diversity of natural forests is still declining mainly due to
conversion of forest to other land uses and unsustainable harvesting practices.
 Productivity, profit and competition ability is weak.
 Timber yields from natural forests has decreased from 2 million m³ per year in
1990s to 700,000 m³ per year in 2000s and 300,000 m³ in year 2003 and at present
is only 200,000 m³ per year.
 Plantation forestry does not yet provide the raw material needs of industries and
exports.
 80-90% of wood for production of export products is imported.
 Wood processing industry although rapidly developing, lacks a long term strategy,
is not competitive and suffers from a lack of material resource.
2.2. Industry Characteristics and Prospects
 Forestry activities have been transferring from mainly state forestry into social
forestry with increasingly participation of non governmental stakeholders.
 Forestry sector has created a lot of employment and enhanced income for millions
of people living in and around the forests.
2.3. Development Targets
General Goal to 2020 is to establish, protect, manage and sustainably develop 14.3
million ha of forest land through participation and mobilization of stakeholders in
forestry development and to contribute to social and economic development,
environmental conservation; poverty alleviation, and to increase the living standard of
communities and people living in and around forests.
Projected forest and forest land (million ha)
Land type 2004 2010 2020

 Sub-zone: North-west (Hoà Bình, Sơn La, Điện Biên, Lai Châu): (i)
Establishment and consolidation of protection forest system in Da river
watershed; (ii) Establishment of material zone for wood and NTFP processing
industries, focus on China market.
 Sub-zone: North-east (Bắc Cạn, Bắc Giang, Bắc Ninh, Cao Bằng, Hà Giang,
Lạng Sơn, Lao Cai, Quảng Ninh, Thái Nguyên, Tuyên Quang, Vĩnh Phú, Yên
Bái): (i) Establishment of material zone link to processing industries based on
1.5 million ha of intensive forest plantation; (ii) Establishing a industrial-
commercial zone of forest products in triangle of Hà Nội-Hải Phòng-Quảng
Ninh; developing traditional villages of wood based handicraft. Strengthening
export, focus on China market. (iii) Establishment and consolidation of
systems of protection and special use forests in the sub-zone.
(2) Red river delta
ForestryPriority Workshop. Data & Information Sheets
4
 (Hà Nam, Hà Nội, Hà Tây, Hải Dương, Hải Phòng, Hưng Yên, Nam Định,
Ninh Bình, Thái Bình): (i) Establishment and consolidation of protection
forest along the sea and around the big cities, planting of scattered trees; (ii)
Development of traditional villages with wood based handicraft; (iii)
Consolidation and protection the existing national parks, such as Cúc Phương,
Ba Vì, Cát Bà, Xuân Thuỷ
(3) North- Central
 (Thanh Hoá, Nghệ An, Hà Tỉnh, Quảng Bình, Quảng Trị, Thừa Thiên-Huế):
(i) Establishment and consolidation of protection forest along the sea, moving
sand areas and in watershed; (ii) Consolidation, protection and development
of existing national parks like: Pù Mát, Vụ Quang, Bến Én, Bạch Mã, Phong
Nha-Kẻ Bàng; (iii) Development of wood and NTFP material zone link to
local processing industries.
(4) Central Coast
 (Đà Nẵng, Quảng Nam, Quảng Ngãi, Bình Định, Phú Yên, Khánh Hòa, Bình

- North- Central: 257,331 ha
- Central Coast: 286,178 ha
- Central Highlands: 23,468 ha
- South-east: 53,182 ha
- Others zone: 216.796 ha
The proportion of planted species is:
- Pinus spp. : 14,82%
- Acacia spp.: 15,50%
- Eucalyptus spp.: 23,65%
- Styrax tonkinensis: 4,34%
- Others (lesser than 4%): 41,69%
All most production plantations were established for materials and small wood purpose,
the percentage of large trees was very low and mostly planted for protection forests.
Production
Average yield of some eatablished plantation:
- Acacia plantation: 18-25 m
3
/ha/a
- Eucalyptus camadulensis: 18-20 m
3
/ha/a
- E. europhylla: 20-30 m
3
/ha/a
- Pinus merkusii: 15 m
3
/ha/a
- Pinus kesya: 15 m
3
/ha/a

 Decision 186/2006/QĐ-TTg dated 14/8/2006 of Prim minister on regulation for forest
management.
3. Industry Analysis
3.1. Structure
Households and Size of Holdings
Forest enterprises (wood production):
 In the 1960s, almost forests of Vietnam were under the management of state forest
enterprises (SFEs). In the early 1990s there were 413 SFEs, of which 138 reported to
district Governments, 199 to provincial Governments, the remaining 76 larger SFEs
reported directly to central Government. These SFEs together controlled 6.3 million
ha of forest land and conducted logging operations on 150,000 ha each year. As a
result, they have contributed substantially to the degradation of forest resource. By
1996 about half of SFEs had run out of forests to exploit and most were
uneconomical and the Government initiated a nationwide program for all SFEs.
 The changes envision forest management increasingly to be taken over by non
government managers and much of land held by SFEs is to be allocated to non
government landholders or the rights to use will be contracted out to other users. In
1997, commercial logging was suspended in 300 SFEs, according to the Decision
187/1999/QD-TTg from September 1999, and Political Bureau Resolution 28-
NQ/TW from 16 June 2003 on the arrangement, renovation and development of State
Farm and Forest Enterprises,
 SFEs are to be reformed into four types of organizations:
1. Forest service enterprise, that support forestation, management and protection
activities undertaken by households;
2. Forest exploitation and processing enterprise that are economically profitable;
3. Forest industry groups;
4. Environmental protection enterprises.
 SFEs continue to manage important stretches of forest land in Vietnam. Much of this
land is supposed to be contracted out for forest protection or reforestation.
 At present, only approximately 32% of forests are managed by households; this

abundant and the quality of products is improved, step by step towards satisfying the
requirements of domestic and export markets.
 Handicraft products are mostly made of natural forest timber and the use of timber
for handicrafts from plantation is still limited.
 Main markets for wood based products made in Vietnam China, Taiwan, Korea,
Japan, European, America, Canada, but these markets are not yet stablised due to low
volumes of exports, model and quality and continuity of supply of products is not
consistent. The commercial promotion of Vietnam wood products through
exhibitions and trade fairs and advertisement is limited.
 Competition for Vietnam’s wood products is likely to increase due to economic
globalization especially after WTO membership and this will create constraints,
challenges and opportunities for the forestry sector and wood processing industries of
Vietnam.
3.4. Future Trends and Key Market Issues
2003 2005 2010 2015 2020
Demand (1000 m
3
) 4.561 5.378 8.030 10.266 11.993
Domestic supply 3.700 10.000
Import 4.300 2.000
Source: National Forestry development strategy period 2006-2020 (4th draft April,
2006).
ForestryPriority Workshop. Data & Information Sheets
8
4. R&D Information
4.1. Main Research Areas
 Forest sector analysis and forecast the development trends of forest product
processing industries and the supply/ demand gaps in the world and in Vietnam.
 Planning and selection priority areas for intensive production of large timber.
 Research to improve policies on forest land allocation/tenure, benefit sharing,

 National budget, Up to now, large timber does not identified as an ARDO in
Vietnam, so that no specific figures of total funding for large timber products were
available. In general, investment for large timber research and production is still low
compared with other forestry ARDOs.
 ODA
 Bilateral co operations
 others
ForestryPriority Workshop. Data & Information Sheets
9
4.4. Major Achievements to Date
Research achievements gained up to present that relevant to large timber production are:
 Classification of forest land, evaluation of soil potential and the adaptation of tree
species and site classification as the basis for forest plantation planning
 Determination of essential wood properties as the basis for timber classification for
end-use purposes and processing technologies.
 Scientific background of forest harvesting and forest restoration after logging.
 Definition of a list of tree species for production forests in different ecological-
economic zones (46 tree species).
 Creating and improving tree breeds with high productivity and high resistance
(Eucalyptus spp. and Acacia spp.)
 Silvicultural techniques for intensive forest management.
 Processing technologies of wood from plantations.
 Wood treatment technologies.
 Many technical guidelines, regulations, standards have been delivered from the
research results and applied effectively in practice.
4.5 Impacts of research on the sector and national economy
 Around 70% of production forest areas are poor forests and new restored forest with
production stock of 30-90m
3
/ha; Productivity of natural forest (annual increment) is

- Expected time to achieve research results: 15-20 years
- Scope of application of research results is large.
5. SWOT Analysis
Strengths Weaknesses
 Physical conditions (climate, soils),
biodiversity offer a high development
potential
 Improved policies create a good legal
 Production rotations are long (especially to
produce large timber) and there is a long time
to wait between initial investment and income.
 Areas of forestry are topographically diverse
ForestryPriority Workshop. Data & Information Sheets
10
environment for forest producers.
 There are many investment programs to build
infrastructure with industrial groves linked to
raw material zones.
 Market potential is big.
 Large number of wood processing enterprises
 Labor price is low and production cost has
competitive advantages over other countries.
 Capacity of research and technology transfer
institutions is big.
 Production establishments and households
have capacity and willingness to apply new
technologies to enhance forest productivity.
 Good international reputation for furniture
and wood products
with many difficulties, low infrastructure and

them, so that the research results could very
slowly be applied in production.
 Equipment and methodologies of processing
industries is out of date and poor linkages to
raw material regions leads to high production
cost and limited competitive advantage.
 Producers and trade companies do not have
commercial mark for their products.
 Limited forest enterprises have been certified.
Opportunities Threats

Improve restoration of natural forests
through increased productivity from
plantation forests by improvement in species
and silvicultural techniques
 Improved social recognition of forest and
forestry in employment creation and in the
role of forests to improve economic, social,
environmental and sustainable land use
practices.
 Improvement of productivity of natural
forests from 3-5m³/ha/yr to 10-15m³/ha/yr.
 Improvement of plantation forestry
productivity from 9-12m³/ha/yr to 18-

Fire and other natural disasters and attacks
from pests and diseases is particularly
important for large timber forests with long
rotations
 Lack of government and private sector

12
ARDO 2. Pulp and Small Log Products
1. ARDO DEFINITION
1.1. National Goal:
To improve productivity and quality of forest plantations for pulp and small logs
supply, increasing the rate of wood utilization in production of wood based panel,
particle board, pulp paper and pit-wood
1.2. Research scope:
Research into:
 Technology for seed selection and propagation for pulp and small log plantations
with high productivity.
 Suitable tree species in different ecological zones, especially small niche conditions.
 Intensive technical systems for establishment and management of forest plantations.
 Forest protection including from forest insects and disease.
 Wood processing techniques and markets of small wood-based products.
 Development of research to assist policy formulation for plantation development for
pulp and small log supply.
1.3. Coverage:
Small logs with diameter at breast height < 25-30 cm.
2. INDUSTRY STATISTICS
2.1 Introduction
Over the last years the area of forest plantation in Vietnam has continually increased.
At present there are 2.2 million ha of forest plantation, most of which is fast growing
tree species for paper and chip. Major species include: Acacia hybrids, Acacia
mangium, Acacia auriculiformis, Manglietia conifera, Dendrocalamus membranaceus,
Eucalyptus camaldulensis, and Eucalyptus urophylla. Research with these species on
planting and cultural techniques has resulted in development of an large wood
processing industry, resulting in improved income for producers and the nation and the
creation of work opportunities for local people. The demand for raw material and
paper, chip products is increasing with good domestic and export demand.

 Imported rate for consumption: Year 2003: 44%; Year 2005: 45%.
 Fibre demand: Year 2003: 668,750 ton; Year 2005: 808,333 ton.
Pulp:
 Pulp import: Year 2003: 668,750 ton; Year 2005: 808,333 ton. (about 20% of total
domestic demand)
 Wooden residue use: Year 2003: 17%; Year 2005: 21%.
 Bamboo: Year 2003: 113,688 ton; Year 2005: 166,333 ton.
 Pulp and fibre demand: Year 2003-2005: 2,568,000 m
3
/year;
Chip board:
 Consumption of chip board: Year 2003: 80,000 m
3
; Year 2005: 95,500 m
3
.
 Imported rate for consumption: Year 2003: 25%; Year 2004: 33%.
 Production of chip board: Year 2003: 60,000 m
3
; Year 2005: 64,000 m
3
.
 Demand of small-sized wood: Year 2003: 139,535 m
3
; Year 2005: 148,837 m
3
.
Fibre board:
ForestryPriority Workshop. Data & Information Sheets
14

 Decree No 163/1999/NĐ-CP dated 16/December/1999 of government on forest land
allocation, lease to organization, households and individuals to use long-term, stably
with forest purposes.
 Decision No 538/QĐ/KL dated 13/July/1993 of Ministry of Forestry on
supplementary, modification of industrial forest plantations management, protection
regulations.
 Resolution No 09/2000/NQ- CP dated 15/June/2000 of government on a number of
guidelines and policies about structure change of economy and agricultural products
consumption.
 Decision No 145/1998/QĐ – TTg dated 15/August/1998 of Prime Minister on
management and utilization of forest plantation supported by FAO.
 Decision of 162/1999/QĐ-TTg dated 7/August/1999 of Prime Minister on benefit-
sharing of households, individuals participated in the projects supported by German
government.
 Decision No 187/1999/QĐ-TTg dated 16/Sep/1999 of Prime Minister on renovation
of State-based forest enterprise organization and mechanism.
 Decree No 22-CP dated 9/March/1995 of Government promulgated regulation on
forest fire prevention and fighting.
ForestryPriority Workshop. Data & Information Sheets
15
 Instruction No 286/TTg dated 2/May/1997 of Prime Minister on strenthening urgent
measures to protect and develop forests.
 Decision no 202/TTg dated 2/May/1994 of Prime Minister promulgated regulation of
forest protection, assisted natural regeneration and plantation contraction.
 Decree No 08/1997/QH 10 of the second meeting of National Assembly X on 5
million ha reforestation project.
 Decision No 661/QĐ-TTg dated 29/July/1998 of Prime Minister on objectives, tasks,
policy and implementation of 5 million ha reforestation project.
 Joint Circular no 28/1999/TT-LT dated 3/Feb/1999 of MARD, MPI, Ministry of
finance guiding implementation of decision No 661/QĐ-TTg dated 29/7/1998 of

Processing Capacity
The plantation regions for raw material were planned and each region has wood
processing facilities. Capacity of paper or wood based panel factories in the North-
East generally exceed the supply of raw materials, but in other areas supply of raw
material exceeds the processing capacity. There are some big processing facilities
with high capacities as follows:
For pulp and paper
 Bai Bang Paper Company (Phu Tho province): Capacity of 61,000 tons of
pulp and 100,000 tons of paper/year.
 Viet Tri Paper Company (Phu Tho Province): Capacity of 100 tons of pulp
and 35,000 tons of paper/year.
 Hoang Van Thu Paper Company (Thai Nguyen Province): Capacity of 20,000
tons of paper/year.
 Dong Nai Paper Company (Dong Nai Province): Capacity of 20,000 tons of
paper/year.
 Tan Mai Paper Company (Dong Nai province): Capacity of 40,000 tons of
pulp and 68,500 tons of paper/year.
 Cau Duong Wood Processing Factory (Ha Noi city): 100,000 tons of fiber
paper/year.
 Van Diem Paper Joint Stock Company (Ha Tay): Capacity of 1,500 pulp and
19,000 tons of paper/year.
 Xuan Duc Paper Joint Stock Company (Ho Chi Minh city): Capacity of 2,000
tons of pulp and 20,000 tons of paper/year.
 Sai Gon Liability Limited Company (Ho Chi Minh city): Capacity of 40,000
tons of paper/year.
For wood based panel:
 Viet Tri Wood Based Panel Factory (Phu Tho province): Capacity of 4,000 m
3
of and 2,000 tons of fiber board/year.
 Gia Lai MDF Factory (Gia Lai province): Capacity of 54,00m

Fibre board and MDF 10,900(m³) 31,500(m³) 0 0
Particle board: 20,000(t) 31,500(t) 0 0
Paper 425,000(t) 556,331(t) 0 0
Pulp: 668,750(t) 803,333t) 0 0
Wooden chip for export 80,000(t) 1,000,000(t)
Small round wood for chip 1,440,000(m³) 1,800,000(m³)
The main export markets are Japan, Taiwan, EU and China.
Vietnam imports large high quality logs from other countries but does not generally
import small logs for processing
3.4. Future Trends and Key Market Issues
 Vietnam has a good potential for industries of paper, chip and wood based panel both
for domestic and export markets.
 It is expected that export markets will develop further especially when Vietnam
becomes a member of World Trade Organization (WTO).
 Processing capacity is adequate with small-scale facilities able to process raw
materials in mountain areas and larger processing facilities close to cities.
 Increased production will be required to fully satisfy processing and export
opportunities
4. R&D Information
4.1. Main Research Areas
 Species selection and tree breeding techniques for small log species.
 Planning large scale plantation, site classification and suitable species to sites.
 Improved techniques for establishment and management of intensive plantations.
 Policy in order to encourage the investment in plantation establishment and forest
land utilization, consumption of products from plantations.
 Techniques of processing and preservation forest products
ForestryPriority Workshop. Data & Information Sheets
18
4.2. Major Research Providers
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development

 Eighty percent of research funds are from MARD through the Department of Science
and Technology.
 Other funds for forestry research from MARD, through the Department of Forestry
and within Project 661 (5 millions ha of reforestation).
 Some research funds through the Ministry of Science and Technology for projects at
nation level.
ForestryPriority Workshop. Data & Information Sheets
19
 International Cooperation Projects: The forestry sector is supported by many
international organizations and has The Forestry Sector Support & Partnership
Program with participation from many donors. A Trust fund has been established in
that program in order to invest in development of forestry. The main sponsors were
FAO; World Bank, ADB, Germany; Japan,
 The total of investment finances for forestry sector was sixty billions VND in 2006.
4.4. Major Achievements to Date
 A number of species, seeds, clones, provenances with high productivity were
selected and created for industrial plantations e.g. Some clones of Acacia hybrid
have productivity 20-30% higher than normal clones.
 Productivity of Acacia plantations increased from 5-7 m
3
/ha/year to 12-15 m
3
/ha
year with the best at 30-35m
3
/ha/year.
 Some planning outlines and procedures in forest tree improvement were published
and applied.
 The species and clones with high productivity were tested such as Acacia hybrid, A.
mangium, A. auriculiformis, Eucalyptus urophylla, Eucalystus hybrid, Casuarina

 Government policies for increased plantation areas
and development of extensive processing industries
encourages expansion of this forestry sector
 Many projects and programs for reforestation
supported by government and international
agencies.
 A system of forestry management policy was
promulgated and it has been improved year by year.
 Labor is cheap, infrastructure has been improved.
 Tree species as well as planting techniques for raw
material supply plantation were defined. Many
clones with high productivity were found.
 The major raw material zones with processing
facilities have been established.
 Income is between 25 and 32m VND/ha/5 years
rotation. About 5mVND is required for re-
establishment.
 The export of wooden products increased in the last
few years with amount of about 2 billions USA
year (from small and large logs
 Shorter rotation lengths for fast growing small log
production compared with larger logs reduces risk
for producers
 Increased forest cover, satisfying the raw material
demand of the market, environmental protection,
formulation of raw material supply areas linked
with wood processing
 Relatively long time from planting to income
generation
 Difficult to attract investment funding for

 Further development of investment vehicles for
establishment of larger plantations
 Many international projects were invested
including technical cooperation and direct
investment projects.
 Further opportunities to improve productivity
through genetic improvement programs,
improvement of establishment and management
techniques and interspecific combinations to
produce productive hybrid clones
 More specific identification of suitability of species
to sites
 The market will be expanded when Vietnam
becomes a member of WTO.
 Upgrading of equipments and adoption of new
technology imported from overseas.
 Achievement obtained during last 20 years of
“renovation” has created new opportunities for
future development.
 Risk of single species plantations resulting in
increase in epiphytotic disease, and fire.
 Market and price are not stable.
 The competition, especially the importation of
paper and fibreboard products will increase
when Vietnam becomes a member of WTO
 Risk of unstable world prices for pulp and
paper and fibre board products
ForestryPriority Workshop. Data & Information Sheets
21
ARDO 3. Bamboo and Rattan

2 Truc day Ampelocalamus 3
3 Sat Arundinaria 8
4 Tre Bambusa 67
ForestryPriority Workshop. Data & Information Sheets
22
5 Le Bac Bo Bonia 2
6 Com lam Cephalostachyum 4
7 Tróc vuong Chimonobambusa 3
8 Sat gai Chimonocalamus 2
9 Bac may Dendrocalamopsis 3
10 Luong Dendrocalamus 29
11 Hao dui Fargesia 1
12 May lenh lang Ferrocalamus 1
13 Le / mum Gigantochloa 18
14 Vau dang Indosasa 12
15 Giang Maclurochloa 16
16 Tre qua thit Melocalamus 8
17 Lanh anh Oligostachyum 1
18 Truc Phyllostachys 8
19 Nua moc tan Pseudostachyum 1
20 Thia ma Sasa 1
21 Nua Schizostachyum 16
22 Sat nui cao Sinarundinaria 2
23 Tam vong Thyrsostachys 2
24 Le co Vietnamosasa 2
25 Vau Cuc Phuong Sinobambusa 1
 According to results of the Steering committee on central forest inventory in 2001
the total bamboo area is 1,489,068 ha with a total of 8,400,767,000 bamboo stems.
 Of this 1,415,552 ha is natural forest (poor stands and mixed stands) with
8,304,693,000 stems and about 73,516 ha bamboo plantations (mainly poor

house building material is made from bamboo. Only large sized species with thick
walls, such as Mai, Dien, Luong, Buong, Loc ngoc, La nga, Tre gai, Tam vong are
used, In the future bamboo will still be important for building and construction,
especially scaffolding. In the traffic and transport many bamboo species are used
for bridges and boats.
 Material for handicraft and fine arts: To produce traditional, unique handicrafts
and arts, for local use and for export. Recently many traditional trade villages
have been restored and investments in re-organization to produce valuable objects
made. Usually bamboo is used in combination with rattan to make bamboo and
rattan wares such as: tables, flower vases, tray, decorative things, pictures, beds,
cabinets.
 In paper and pulp industry: Many South-East Asian countries use bamboo to
produce paper and pulp and some bamboo species with high fibre content provide
a valuable raw material resource for high quality pulp and paper.
 Food: Some bamboo species provide edible young shoots, and are used as fresh,
nourishing vegetable sources in South-East Asia. Most edible bamboo shoots can
be made into products such as dried sliced bamboo shoots, sour bamboo shoots,
scanned bamboo shoots, frozen shoots, etc. Bamboo shoots are an important
source for export. Now in Vietnam some exotic bamboo species such as Diem truc
(Dendrocalamus latiflorus), Luc truc (Bambusa oldhamii), Manh tong
(Dendrocalamus asper) are selected and planted by local people. The nutrient
analysis of bamboo shoot of 18 monopodial and 10 other sympodial bamboo
species showed that it contains about 90% water, 2.4% protein, 17 amino acids,
and some amino acids containing Lysene, Glutamine and Arginine which are
higher than in some vegetables such as cabbage, carrot, onion, pumpkin. There are
8 kinds of amines in bamboo shoots that can not synthesized by human body.
Number of other amine acids have been fund only in bamboo shoots such as
Luecine., Isoleucine, Methionine., Phenylalanine. and Valine.
 Raw material for man-made board.: Bamboos are being used for producing
laminated bamboo boards, particle bamboo boards, bamboo panels for flooring,

provinces.
 Natural rattan is distributed mainly in Ha Giang, Tuyen Quang, Yen Bai, Bac Thai,
Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien Hue, Quang Nam, Nghia
Binh, Dak Lac, Binh Thuan, Dong Nai, Binh Phuoc.
 May nep is planted widely in Thai Binh, Nam Đinh, Ha Nam, Hung Yen, Ninh Binh,
Nghe An, Ha Tinh. Besides May nep, Song mat has been studied as planting species
under forest canopies in Bac Kan, Hoa Binh. May nep usually is planted in garden
and is numerous in some lowland provinces such as Thai Binh, Nam Ha, Nam Dinh,
Ninh Binh, Hai Duong, Hung Yen
Utilization:
 An important utilization of rattan is to make handicrafts and artistic wares, and
furniture (tables, chairs, beds, benches). Rattan is used in combination with bamboos
to make wares named "bamboo and rattan weaving product".
Comparative Advantage
 Vietnam belongs to the countries with rich bamboo and rattan sources. There are
many species that have high economic value and are important as a raw material
source for many production areas.