To this end, Vietnam is encouraging more foreign investors to develop material zones, and build advanced pulp and paper plants in the country, and urging existing plants to expand production, said Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Bui Xuan Khu.

Now, Vietnam annually produces over 100,000 tons of pulp, meeting only 20-30 percent of the domestic demand for the material, he said, noting that to ensure stable paper production, made-in- Vietnam pulp should meet at least 50 percent of the demand.

On average, a Vietnamese person annually consumes 15 kg of paper, while the figure is 50 kg in Thailand, and 150 kg in Europe, he said.

This year, Vietnam is likely to manufacture 1.13 million tons of paper of different kinds, including letter, printing and packaging paper, and import of 914,500 tons of paper, mainly complicated kinds of the product, according to the ministry's estimation.

Xinhua