Only when hitting snags in exporting their products do Vietnamese wood processors focus on the domestic market.

On Ngo Gia Tu Road in Ho Chi Minh City, there are now dozens of shops selling an amazing variety of wooden products, including luxury ones.

Two or three years ago, it was very difficult for customers to buy luxury products as they were all for export, says Trang, a sales assistant in the Thien Danh shop.

Mr. Toan, director of the Toan Thien An Company, says that since his company has concentrated on domestic sales and marketing, it has received bulk orders for wooden products from many resorts and hotels across the country.

As Vietnam is a prestigious global supplier of wooden products with its annual export turnover reaching approximately US$3 billion, most businesses would look at ways of expanding there foreign markets rather than paying attention to domestic consumers.

According to a recent survey by the Ho Chi Minh City Association for Fine Arts and Wood Processing, only 20 percent of the domestic sales volume of wooden products is supplied by local businesses, while the remainer comes from foreign markets such as China, Taiwan and Thailand. However, the increase in domestic sales revenue is considered a boon for local businesses, who are gradually holding sway in the domestic market.

Economists say that the wood processing industry’s domestic sales revenue is likely to rise in tandem with its export revenue, thanks to an increasing demand for interior decor in the country. It is predicted to reach up to US$1 billion per annum. In addition, there is currently a huge demand for low-cost wooden products in the rural market, which accounts for nearly 50 percent of the total domestic sales revenue of the wood processing industry in a year.

Subsequently, a trade fair on wooden products will be held in Ho Chi Minh City in November 2010, with a focus on attracting more domestic consumers. The Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Association for Fine Arts and Wood Processing, Nguyen Chien Thang, says that the fair aims to study consumer tastes and expand distribution networks in the domestic market to help local businesses sharpen their competitive edge. “I believe that with a proper understanding of consumer tastes and highly-competive products, Vietnamese businesses will quickly corner the domestic market,” Thang says.