Inside a factory on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City, workers assemble a sample chest of drawers for an upcoming trade show. The Canadian material is different from what they normally use. In a sector dominated by domestic plantation species, processed wood and imported hardwoods such as oak and walnut, the use of B.C.’s western hemlock and Douglas fir is an outlier, according to Nguyen Trong Hieu, group CEO of Truong Thanh Furniture Corp. The company, one of Vietnam’s largest furniture manufacturers, is working with B.C. Crown corporation Forestry Innovation Investment (FII) to develop its first trial products using Canadian wood for prospective buyers. …The sector is eyeing Vietnam as an emerging market, according to FII, which opened a Ho Chi Minh City office in 2022. “Vietnam is a growing market. There’s more production happening here. There’s more demand,” FII president and CEO Michael Loseth said in January.