Furniture and construction industries boosts consumption in domestic market

At the opening ceremony of the Vietnam Interior and Build Exhibition 2024 (Vibe 2024) on October 2, Bui Quang Hung, Deputy Director of the Trade Promotion Agency (Ministry of Industry and Trade), says, “With a population of approximately 100 million people and rapid urbanization, 70 - 80 million square meters of new houses are built every year, so the demand for consumption of interior products in the domestic market has a good growth rate”.

The purchase of home furniture products such as living room sofas, dining tables and chairs has increased significantly in recent years. Furniture products for hotels and offices for rent also experience an uptrend in comparison to previous years.

The production scale and consumption demand of the domestic market are increasing, but it seems that domestic furniture enterprises are focusing more on the export market without really promoting consumption in the domestic market.

“Currently, high-end furniture products imported from European countries are dominating the Vietnamese market. This is such a shame since Vietnam is one of the largest exporters of wooden furniture in the world," said the Deputy Director of the Trade Promotion Agency.

In the context of a market experiencing difficulties, with challenges and opportunities intertwined, the Ministry of Industry and Trade is proactively coordinating with ministries, localities, industry associations and enterprises to implement Directive No. 29/CT-TTg on stimulating consumption, supporting production, trading and development of the domestic market through supporting enterprises to participate in major fairs and exhibitions both domestically and internationally.

Deputy Director Bui Quang Hung believes that the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises needs to improve so they can be able to respond and keep up with the world's green production and sustainable consumption trends as well as compete with imported products in the domestic market.

Sharing the same view, Nguyen Quoc Khanh, Head of the Vibe 2024 Organizing Committee, shares some information regarding statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. “The domestic furniture industry is estimated to only reach USD 5 billion. Thus, the demand for furniture products in the domestic market still has a lot of potential and is stable in the long term”.

Taking the lead in the wave of recovery and growth, closely connecting the ecosystems of the two interior and construction industries is what needs to be done at this moment. The goal is to bring opportunities to the business community.

"This will be a big playground to help spread values ​​and open business opportunities with three core missions: providing information and trends; expanding connections to the interior and construction industry ecosystem; promoting business opportunities for companies in the domestic market or those with export orientation.

“Vibe 2024 is also considered an important bridge to help businesses bring quality products and services to the market, serving the diverse tastes and high aesthetics of Vietnamese consumers. This will be a stepping stone for businesses to gradually expand their international scope and purchase goods worldwide, seek manufacturers, provide construction services, and reach export levels as the wood and furniture industry has achieved,” said the exhibition organizer.

According to Nguyen Quoc Khanh, Vibe 2024 is held for the first time with a scale of 500 booths, gathering nearly 150 large exhibitors in the fields of interior design, architecture, and construction, with serious and methodical investment from design, staging to the development of new product models.