Fall Fair 2025: Accelerating digital transformation and global connectivity

Photo caption — Representatives of the Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy spoke at the workshop. Photo: Tran Viet/VNA

Speaking at the workshop, Mr. Vu Ba Phu - Director of the Trade Promotion Agency ( Ministry of Industry and Trade ) said that in the context of globalization and the 4th Industrial Revolution taking place strongly, digital transformation has become a key factor to help businesses improve their competitiveness, expand their markets and participate more deeply in the global value chain.

For Vietnam, digital technology and e-commerce are not only a trend but have become a new growth driver for exports, helping Vietnamese businesses directly access global consumers, reduce intermediary costs and increase brand value.

Realizing that importance, the Trade Promotion Agency has been implementing many programs to support businesses in applying digital technology in trade promotion, connecting with major domestic and foreign e-commerce platforms.

According to Mr. Vu Ba Phu, this is one of the key activities in the “Go Digital – Go Global” program series chaired by the Trade Promotion Agency to accompany Vietnamese enterprises on the journey of digital transformation and international integration. Thereby, helping enterprises find the right path to effectively apply digital technology in production, marketing and sales; build a prestigious Vietnamese brand in the domestic and international markets. Especially sustainable development, based on the foundation of innovation and digital cooperation.

“The Trade Promotion Agency always actively accompanies businesses, coordinates with domestic and foreign partners to expand the digital trade promotion network, train digital human resources, and build a smart export ecosystem, contributing to the implementation of the national digital transformation goal and enhancing the position of Vietnamese goods in the global market,” Mr. Vu Ba Phu emphasized.

Sharing about the opportunities and challenges for Vietnamese enterprises in cross-border e-commerce, Mr. Bui Huy Hoang - Deputy Director of the Center for E-commerce and Digital Technology Development (Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy - Ministry of Industry and Trade) said that along with the development of e-commerce in general, cross-border e-commerce has also become a strong growth trend in the global market.

According to a report by Cognitive Market Research, the global cross-border e-commerce market size in 2024 reached 791.5 billion USD and is forecast to grow at an average annual rate of 30.50% in the period 2024 - 2031. Realizing this potential, along with traditional export channels, many Vietnamese enterprises have focused on building a strategy to apply cross-border e-commerce as a tool to expand the market.

In recent times, Vietnamese enterprises have been expanding their online presence in many key markets such as the United States, China, the European Union (EU), Japan, and South Korea, while seeking opportunities in new potential markets such as ASEAN, the Middle East, Russia, and Australia through cross-border e-commerce.

According to Mr. Bui Huy Hoang, e-commerce in general or cross-border e-commerce has certain advantages compared to traditional business or import-export models because of the ability to quickly reach a large number of customers from different markets around the world, opening up the possibility of accessing the market in a relatively short time (application of technology, AI, big data, etc.).

Different from the traditional export model through import partners in the importing country market, cross-border trade through different models helps export enterprises not only directly access import enterprises but also reach the end consumers, directly communicate with customers to grasp feedback from customers in the most direct and fastest way.

At the same time, it can help increase product value, proactively promote the brand, control sales policies as well as optimize profits for export enterprises or sellers. However, cross-border e-commerce also poses many challenges that Vietnamese export enterprises and sellers must face and overcome.

For example, the e-commerce operation capacity of many Vietnamese enterprises is still relatively limited, mainly because the investment resources in this business sector are not really wide and deep enough, especially investment in e-commerce human resources of enterprises. Moreover, the revenue from e-commerce of many enterprises does not account for a large part of total sales, so the focus on development or resource concentration depends on the development strategy of the enterprise and the subjective will of the enterprise's leaders.

Not only that, in the same open online environment, the competition is extremely fierce. That is from businesses in the same industry in many different markets, competition from local businesses in the importing country, competition in e-commerce operation capacity... In particular, the cost of doing business in cross-border e-commerce is also a big difficulty. In addition, understanding the import market, legal regulations on e-commerce in each importing country are also different, consumer tastes of the markets are also different, making it difficult for exporting businesses and sellers to grasp accurately and closely.

Therefore, Mr. Bui Huy Hoang believes that businesses need to focus on selecting products that are suitable for each market and each consumer group in the target market. On the other hand, determine the cross-border trade model (B2B, B2C, B2B2C, D2C...) and focus investment resources on this e-commerce business model.

In addition, focus on developing human resources for e-commerce in general as well as human resources for cross-border e-commerce. Strengthening cooperation with e-commerce partners in importing countries, on the one hand, helps save costs, on the other hand, grasp market demand more quickly.

At the workshop, delegates focused on discussing topics with content that closely met the needs of the Vietnamese business community, such as the trend of applying digital technology in promoting global trade; opportunities and challenges for Vietnamese businesses in cross-border e-commerce; connecting manufacturers with domestic consumers; online trading connection platforms for Vietnamese export enterprises, etc.

In addition to the presentations of experts, on the sidelines of the workshop, there was also a direct consulting area where businesses were given specific instructions on strategies and methods of participating in e-commerce platforms, as well as access to support programs of the Ministry of Industry and Trade in digital transformation.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/kinh-te/hoi-cho-mua-thu-2025-day-manh-chuyen-doi-so-va-ket-noi-toan-cau-20251027173905073.htm