PEFC heads to Vietnam for Forestry Certification Workshop

5 November 2014 News

Co-organized with the Vietnamese Academy of Forest Sciences (VAFS), the workshop will provide participants with a better understanding of PEFC, the world’s leading forest certification system, and of the changing regional landscape of forestry certification in other Asian countries.

"We look forward to the opportunity to share our experiences in developing national forest certification systems with Vietnamese stakeholders,” said Ben Gunneberg, CEO of PEFC International. “I am looking forward to learning more about the specific challenges that Viet Nam faces in promoting sustainable forest management and forest certification, and to exploring how PEFC can assist in addressing these.

"With China, Indonesia, and Malaysia, there are already three Asian countries that have successfully developed PEFC-endorsed national forest certification systems, and we hope that PEFC’s bottom-up approach will be equally suitable, attractive and valuable for Viet Nam,” continued Mr. Gunneberg.

Participants will benefit from the presence of Dr. Lu Wenmin, Deputy Secretary General of the China Forest Certification Council (CFCC) and Mr. Yong Teng Koon, CEO of the Malaysian Timber Certification Council (MTCC) and who are looking forward to sharing experiences and lessons learnt during the development of their national forest certification systems in Malaysia and China, respectively.

The day will finish with a discussion session, providing the participants with the opportunity to ask questions and discuss many of the key aspects related to forest certification and the development of a national system.

If you are interested in attending the workshop, please contact Mr. Nguyen Van Truong, Training and International Cooperation Department, VAFS, by emailing truong.nv@vafs.gov.vn or by phone +844 383 62232. Alternatively, please contact Dr. Vu Tan Phuong at phuong.vt@vafs.gov.vn.