Plastic industry determines to earn US $1 billion in 2008

VGP – The Vietnamese plastic sector has become one of the most dynamic industries with constant growth rate of 15-20% per year.

October 24, 2008 4:14 PM GMT+7

A plastic factory in the Quế Võ industry zone in Bắc Ninh Province - Illustration photo

The sector targets to get the average growth rate of 18-20% per year from now to 2010, becoming a strong economic industry by 2010 with such major products as packing, construction materials, household plastic utensils, and high-tech plastic products.

Three main projects have been adopted, focusing on expanding the production of raw materials; developing high-tech plastic products and exports; and developing waste treatment industries.

Nevertheless, Việt Nam encounters a difficulty resulted from its dependence on external supplies of input materials. The country is supposed to spend US $3.1 billion to import around 1.8 million tons of raw materials.

Striving to accelerate plastic industry, the Government is expanding industrial zones. As a result, various plastic enterprises can promote their business and production activities. Particularly, up to 2010, the industry determines to raise its self-sufficiency of plastic raw materials more than 50% with a view to replacing imported ones.

In August, the export turnover of plastic products reached a high record of US $83.4 million, increasing 7.75% against last month. As a result, in the first nine months of 2008, the total export value of plastic industry was US $674 million, a 34% increase compared to the same period last year. The sector is expected to fulfil the set target of US $1 billion export turnover this year. So far, Việt Nam has exported plastic products to 48 countries and territories, including the US, Japan, Cambodia, Germany and the UK.

By Kim Loan