production and seeking new markets at home and abroad. In recent years, the corporation is exporting about 30,000 tonnes of products a year to Malaysia, the US and other countries, earning $40-45 million per year.
The company must also overcome challenges like the rising cost of equipment and materials due to the global economic downturn.
Vo Sy Dong, general director of the corporation, said that the company had four key projects planned for this year, including expanding the Bai Bang Paper Mill into the second stage and building the raw materials supply for the Bai Bang factory and the Thanh Hoa Pulp and Paper Mill.
The corporation would co-operate with paper producers in Tan Mai and Bai Bang to finish projects in Kon Turn Province and the southern region.
The company would invest a total of VND2 trillion ($114.3 million) for all of its projects this year, Dong said.
This year; the corporation would instigate changes in product structure and pricing and improve the quality of information forecasts about the domestic and world paper markets, Dong said, adding that it would apply management and technical solutions to reduce production costs and the selling price of products.
The corporation would also boost equitisation of subsidiaries, call for investment, issue shares and create joint ventures with other domestic and foreign companies to raise capital for their projects.
Last year, the corporation gained a revenue of VND5.67 trillion ($324.1 million), an increase of 24 per cent over the previous year, including $36 million from exports.
Cutting costs
The paper industry would soon adopt a series of measures designed to cut production costs in order to stimulate domestic consumption and increase exports, announced a Viet Nam Paper and Pulp Association official.
According to the association's general secretary, Vu Ngoc Bao, almost all domestic paper mills will need to reduce production by 20-40 per cent due to stockpiled goods. However, domestic consumption is shrinking rapidly due to an increase in more competitively-priced imported goods.
Bao revealed that the Ministry of Industry and Trade met with relevant ministries and agencies last Thursday and proposed that the finance ministry adjust the tax rate levied on imported paper products, increasing import duties in order to ease the burden on domestic paper producers.
Source: VietNamNet/Viet Nam News