Launching the 2025 Digital Business Student Competition

On February 28, the launching ceremony of the Digital Business Contest 2025 (DBC 2025) took place in Hanoi.

Launching ceremony of Digital Business Contest 2025 (DBC 2025). (Source: Organizing Committee)

The event was organized by the Vietnam E-commerce Association (VECOM) in collaboration with the Network of E-commerce Training Institutions (VecomNet).

With the theme “Green e-commerce – quickly reduce plastic waste”, the fourth season of this intellectual playground not only marks a new development step in training e-commerce human resources, but also sends a profound message about social responsibility and sustainable development.

Real-world playground for the next generation of digital business students

Launched in 2022, the Digital Business Student Competition has quickly become the largest annual event in the field of e-commerce and digital economy , attracting the participation of a large number of university students across the country. Up to now, through three seasons, the competition has demonstrated its strong appeal to the student community as well as received close attention from businesses and society.

If the 2024 season made its mark with nearly 500 competing teams, 2,500 students from 80 universities and the support of nearly 30 businesses, then in 2025, the competition continued to expand its scale, affirming its position as the most prestigious practical playground for young people. The three main competition content groups including Online Sales, Digital Marketing and Digital Business Ideas promise to bring many exciting and dramatic competitions, helping students apply the knowledge they have learned into practice, practice teamwork skills and inspire the spirit of entrepreneurship.

Speaking at the launching ceremony, Dr. Le Hoang Oanh - Director of the Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy ( Ministry of Industry and Trade ) said: "E-commerce and digital economy in Vietnam have great potential for development. Besides opportunities, the urgent need for high-quality human resources, knowledgeable about technology and having practical capabilities is increasingly evident."

According to the Vietnam E-Commerce Index (EBI) 2025 Report, the scale of Vietnam's e-commerce in 2024 will reach 32 billion USD, a growth of 27% compared to 2023, of which online retail sales will reach 22.5 billion USD, accounting for 12% of total retail sales of goods and consumer services. Vietnam is currently among the fastest growing e-commerce markets in the region, thanks to its young and dynamic population, convenient technology infrastructure and the constantly increasing rate of online consumption. However, this "hot" development also poses challenges in terms of human resources.

The national e-commerce development orientation for the period 2026 - 2030, stated in Decision 1568/QD-BCT in 2025, has set out two key tasks: striving to have 60% of higher education and vocational training institutions deploy training in majors related to e-commerce, while 1 million enterprises, cooperatives, business households, individuals and students participate in training in e-commerce application skills. In that context, DBC becomes an important channel to link training with actual needs from the labor market.

Green highlights in the 2025 season

Unlike previous seasons, DBC 2025 chose the theme “Green e-commerce – rapidly reducing plastic waste” as a special highlight. The integration of green elements into the entire competition structure stems from an alarming reality: according to the 2023 Report, e-commerce activities in Vietnam have used over 330,000 tons of packaging, of which up to 170,000 tons are plastic. With a growth rate of over 25% per year, by 2030, the amount of plastic waste from e-commerce will become a major burden on the environment.

Therefore, this year's competition hopes that students will not only demonstrate their digital business capabilities, but also propose creative, environmentally friendly solutions, contributing to the spread of the green e-commerce model. The organizers believe that the youth, intelligence and creativity of students will bring feasible ideas to reconcile the goal of digital economic growth with environmental protection.

The competition is supported by the National Plastic Action Partnership Program in Vietnam (NPAP) chaired by UNDP Vietnam and the Ministry of Industry and Trade. This is a meaningful collaboration, expected to encourage young people to actively seek creative solutions to deal with plastic pollution. According to the Organizing Committee, this connection also contributes to spreading the message of "green living" to the community, affirming social responsibility in the process of developing the digital economy.

In addition, DBC 2025 also has the participation of many large domestic and foreign enterprises such as Doppelherz, TikTok Shop Vietnam, Grab, MB Life, Shopee, VietGuys, Netco Post, FADO, Metric, VnPost, Haravan, Sapo, Vinalink, ImGroup, Ecom Group, BambuUp, Vietnam Internet Center (VNNIC)... This companionship not only guarantees the prestige of the competition but also opens up career opportunities, cooperation and practical internships for students.

Speaking at the event, Mr. Nguyen Hong Quan - representative of Doppelherz brand - emphasized: "The contest is a practical playground, helping students apply the knowledge they have learned to real business models, while raising awareness about linking business with social responsibility and environmental protection". VNNIC representative also shared the desire to accompany students in innovation, encourage the building of Vietnamese digital brands associated with the national domain name .vn, creating a sustainable foundation for the development of digital space.

Regarding the prizes, the Champion team will receive 50 million VND in cash and valuable prizes from the accompanying business; the Runner-up will receive 20 million VND; the Third Prize will receive 10 million VND; and the consolation prizes will be 5 million VND. In addition, in the three groups of competition content, the teams that win First, Second and Third prizes will also receive prizes and support packages from the business.

Digital Startup Forum and Expectations for the New Generation of Human Resources

Along with the launching ceremony, the “Digital Startup Forum” program was also held, gathering experts, entrepreneurs and managers to discuss opportunities and challenges in the startup journey in the digital era. The sharing from the speakers provided practical perspectives, helping students – the future owners of the digital economy – to be more confident in starting their business journey.

The organizers affirmed that this year’s competition does not only stop at selecting the winning teams, but also aims to provide training, coaching, and mentoring from leading experts for all contestants. Thereby, students will have access to practical knowledge, improve their combat skills, and have more job and business opportunities after graduation.

With its increasingly large scale, improved organization quality and focus on applicability, the 2025 Digital Business Student Competition promises to bring many different impressions. Not only is it a place to challenge courage and knowledge, the competition also conveys a clear message: sustainable e-commerce development must go hand in hand with social and environmental responsibility.

From the organizational practice, it can be seen that DBC has become an important “bridge” between school training and the human resource needs of enterprises. Through this playground, students not only mature in professional skills, but also imbued with a sense of responsibility to the community, contributing to creating a generation of brave, creative and responsible digital human resources for a prosperous digital Vietnam.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/phat-dong-cuoc-thi-sinh-vien-kinh-doanh-so-2025-326093.html