Vietnam's e-commerce will grow strongly

That was the information given at a press conference on the sidelines of the Cross-border E-commerce Conference in Vietnam "Asian Essence, Global Breakthrough" held on June 7 in Hanoi. The conference was jointly organized by the Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy, Ministry of Industry and Trade , and Amazon Global Selling (Amazon) with a series of activities including: Cross-border E-commerce Conference to update the latest information on the e-commerce industry; Service provider connection day with 14 service providers in the industry from many different service categories; Introducing successful Amazon sellers from countries in the region such as: Korea, Singapore and Vietnam.

Speaking at the conference, Ms. Lai Viet Anh, Deputy Director of the Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy , said that cross-border e-commerce is a booming trend in many countries around the world. In Vietnam, with a retail e-commerce growth rate of over 20% per year, this is a new industry that is assessed to have great potential and is in line with the Government's digital economic development policy.

However, according to Ms. Lai Viet Anh, over the past year, the difficulties of the world economy have significantly affected business operations as well as Vietnam's import and export situation. In the first 4 months of 2023, although there was still a trade surplus of 6 billion USD, the country's export turnover decreased by about 1.8% compared to the same period. These challenges put businesses in a situation where they are forced to change their business models to maintain production, export, and increase competitiveness in the market. From the perspective of e-commerce, in addition to the trend of e-commerce on mobile and social networks, cross-border e-commerce is very prominent. The growth rate of cross-border e-commerce is more than 2 times higher than that of e-commerce in general.

According to the leader of the Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy, although they have approached cross-border e-commerce, Vietnamese enterprises, especially small and medium enterprises, still face many barriers. First is the strict regulations of the import market; the capacity of human resources in product development and the competitiveness of products in the context of the global market. Along with that are barriers in cost and information. "These barriers are common to import and export activities, not just for exports through e-commerce platforms," Ms. Lai Viet Anh noted.

Recognizing the difficulties of the business community, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, specifically the Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy, has coordinated with e-commerce platforms, including Amazon, to implement the Global Breakthrough E-commerce Program. This activity aims to support Vietnamese businesses to improve their capacity to apply cross-border e-commerce, while equipping them with effective sales skills on global e-commerce platforms; thereby, they can bring their products to potential markets, including untapped markets.

Sharing at the press conference on the sidelines of the Conference, Mr. Gijae Seong, CEO of Amazon Global Selling Vietnam, also said that in 2022, the export value through cross-border e-commerce of Vietnam will reach over 80,000 billion VND. If Vietnamese enterprises receive more comprehensive support and apply e-commerce to exports, in the next 5 years, this figure could reach 300,000 billion VND. For Amazon alone, in 2022, the number of Vietnamese enterprises participating in sales increased by 80% over the same period, with turnover increasing by 45%.

Cross-border e-commerce brings many benefits to businesses. First, it helps businesses quickly grasp customer information and improve products to meet demand faster. Second, digital transformation and globalization resonate together, not only helping to globalize products but also globalize product brands.

“Amazon encourages businesses to change their mindset, not only processing but also building brands to enhance product value and do business more sustainably in the world market,” Mr. Gijae Seong informed.

Amazon sets and strives to achieve 5 goals to accompany Vietnamese businesses in accelerating the application of cross-border e-commerce, including: Increasing awareness of cross-border e-commerce; training for businesses participating in cross-border e-commerce; building a global brand for Vietnam; encouraging Vietnamese businesses to use Amazon's logistics services, and finally connecting the seller community in Vietnam.

However, Amazon representative also said that Vietnam is in a new stage in the process of shifting from traditional export to online export, so there are still many policy gaps that need to be overcome. Amazon is also actively referencing the business environment of countries with developed cross-border e-commerce, listening to the opinions of sellers in Vietnam and conveying them to Vietnamese government agencies to research and develop appropriate and complete e-commerce policies, thereby facilitating and promoting cross-border e-commerce.

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