
Hanoi (VNA) –Vietnamesesmall-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are focusing more and more oninternational trade via e-commerce.
The Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy under the Ministry of Industryand Trade (MoIT) said that e-commerce is suitable for SMEs as it can save costsand directly connect buyers with sellers.
Vietnam is one of the countries that has experienced the fastest growth ofe-commerce, at 35 percent annually, 2.5 times higher than Japan.
The bloom of e-commerce has aided the development of cross-border e-commercesince up to 33 percent of online customers have purchased products from abroad.
Dat Phan, Director of Fado.vn, a cross-border e-commerce platform in Vietnam,attributed the development of cross-border e-commerce in the country toincreasing consumption demand of Vietnamese people and SMEs’ efforts to reachforeign markets.
Lai Viet Anh, deputy head of the Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy,noted that financial resources have been used to help enterprises improve theircapacity for e-commerce.
Up to 70 percent of 800 export businesses surveyed by the department are SMEsand the remainder are big enterprises.
The survey also revealed that 54 percent of the big enterprises use websitesand e-transactions while this number among SMEs stands at 36 percent.
Only 11 percent of the businesses have joined foreign e-commerce platforms.
However, 42 percent of the enterprises reported that the total value of their onlineorders makes up half of their accumulated export turnover.
Tran Thanh Hai, deputy head of the Export-Import Department under the MoIT saidcross-border e-commerce is huge globally and Vietnamese businesses should graspopportunities generated in this area.
The Vietnam E-commerce Association suggested retail businesses conductcross-border e-commerce via major platforms like Amazon and Alibaba, aiming toparticipate in the global value chain.
Hai described e-commerce as a solution to improve competitiveness ofbusinesses, asking them to take the initiative to join the process.
To promote cross-border e-commerce, the MoIT has applied various solutions tosupport export activities.
Apart from developing favourable policies for e-commerce, the ministry willfocus on administrative reform and create the best conditions for enterprisesto participate in international exhibitions, fairs and forums.
The Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy has also launched ane-commerce portal to support Vietnamese exporters.
Total cross-border online transaction value is expected to hit 900 billion USDglobally by 2020, making up 22 percent of global e-commerce value.-VNA
VNA