If Vietnamese agarwood is to reach the global stage, everyone cannot just speak for themselves

VOV.VN - Vietnamese agarwood has long been considered one of the precious treasures of the East. But behind the praises of "Vietnamese agarwood is No. 1 in the world", the domestic agarwood industry is still facing a reality worth reflecting on: a lack of connection, a lack of market strategy, and the absence of a common voice strong enough to create real momentum for the entire industry.

When the market does not operate on emotion

For many years, the phrase "Vietnamese agarwood is the best in the world" has been repeated as a default source of pride. However, according to many long-time practitioners in this field, pride without market capability and a methodical development strategy can easily become a "collective illusion."

After all, agarwood is also an economic commodity. And an economy must have a market, customers, consumer segments, and competitiveness.

We cannot rely solely on sentiment or praise to develop an industry worth billions of dollars globally. What is more important is to understand what buyers need, how the international market is shifting, how the mass market segment differs from the high-end segment, where the high-potential niche markets are, and what price points are acceptable to consumers.

That is precisely the major gap in the Vietnamese agarwood industry today.

Many people speak very eloquently about agarwood, but those who truly understand market structure, consumer behavior, international trends, or product commercialization strategies are few. Meanwhile, quite a few individuals build themselves up as "experts," speaking boldly but lacking practical foundations and concrete contributions to the overall development of the industry.

The reality of "empty vessels making the most noise" is causing the agarwood community to fragment, creating information chaos and making it difficult to form a unified development direction.

What is the agarwood industry lacking?

According to experts, building a strong agarwood industry cannot rely solely on a few isolated individuals or spontaneous activities.

What the Vietnamese agarwood industry needs right now is an ecosystem capable of connecting everything from tree variety research, agarwood-inducing techniques, deep processing, and branding to international trade promotion.

More importantly, the industry needs an organization with enough credibility to gather those who are truly passionate, knowledgeable, responsible, and aspire to build a national brand for Vietnamese agarwood.

Reality shows that many countries successful with specialty commodities have very clear national strategies. From production support policies, quality control, and product standardization to international promotion, everything is implemented in a synchronized and long-term manner.

Meanwhile, in Vietnam, many people still operate in an "every man for himself" manner. Growers do not connect with processors. Producers do not understand the market. Sellers lack common standards. Groups operate fragmentedly, even engaging in negative competition with one another.

More notably, many debates within the agarwood community today tend to focus on personal attacks, showing off, or boasting, rather than focusing on substantive values such as market research, quality improvement, or building a sustainable value chain.

To go far, we must unite

An undeniable reality: the Vietnamese agarwood industry has immense potential, but potential will always remain just potential without solidarity.

To develop, we must first "survive" in the market mechanism. To elevate ourselves, we must find the right customers for each product segment. And to compete internationally, a long-term strategy based on serious research, rather than emotion, is mandatory.

This requires practitioners to set aside their personal egos, overcome both inferiority and superiority complexes, and sit down together in a unified organization to build common goals for the industry.

Many believe that this is also the time to promote the connecting role of the Vietnam Agarwood Association in gathering the community of businesses, artisans, scientists, and agarwood lovers across the country.

Because only with a strong enough connection can the Vietnamese agarwood industry have the opportunity to form a methodical value chain, enhance competitiveness, and build a true national brand.

But if everyone continues to just stand on the sidelines and observe, occasionally posting a few pictures, philosophical quotes, or disjointed statements on social media and considering that a contribution to the industry, the value of Vietnamese agarwood will remain as fragile as a wisp of agarwood smoke drifting in the wind.

Amidst the many noisy voices today, what the agarwood industry needs is perhaps not more self-praise, but more substantive actions, people who truly understand the craft, and a spirit of solidarity strong enough to bring Vietnamese agarwood to the world based on its true value.