Hanoi (VNA) - E-commerce offers businesses, especially small andmedium-sized enterprises (SMEs), a direct reach to international customers,boosts their sales, speeds up the marketing process and saves costs, expertshave said.

Industryinsiders were speaking at a seminar on exporting local goods through e-commerce,held by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the InnovativeHub Company in Hanoi on November 24.

Inthe context of the COVID-19 pademic, the supply chains are disruptedand e-commerce shows its superiority and strengths that can help SMEscontinue their business, maintain operations and create a breakthrough moreclearly, said Pham Hoang Tien, Director of the VCCI’s Small and MediumEnterprise Promotion Center.

Sharinghow Singapore has practised effective e-commerce, Zoe Zuo, CEO of InnovativeHub said Vietnamese businesses need to acquire and do some things that areconsidered useful in Singapore with positive values to help promote theimplementation of e-commerce in the country.

Zuoadvised firms to select and carefully identify customers, focus on differentgroups and select products suitable for them, adding they should also selecte-commerce platforms and interfaces appropriate to the objectives of thebusiness and find qualified staff.

Accordingto the Vietnam E-Commerce Association, the country's e-commerce market valuewill increase by more than 30 percent this year, exceeding 15 billion USD andreach 52 billion USD by 2025.

DoanThuy, a representative of Glovimex which produces handicrafts for export,said her enterprise has accelerated transactions through e-commerce andreported positive results.

Thuysaid e-commerce platforms have helped her overcome difficulties and maintaingrowth amid the pandemic.

LawyerLe Trong Thiem, from the law firm LTT & Lawyers, said e-commercetransactions bring benefits but create many potential risks of cash flow,security on international payment transactions, transaction costs, technologyrisks or fraud and hackers.

Thiemrecommended businesses develop a full, detailed and specific sales policy,learn and grasp the rules of the game and ensure the deadline to receive moneyin any transaction.

Headded there should be a clear agreement with the partner while the enterprisesmust make a careful investment in technology and have knowledge about thegeopolitical situation when trading via e-commerce.

TheAsian Development Bank (ADB)'s Asian Development and Outlook 2020 Reportforecasts that Vietnam's economic growth will reach 2.8 percent in 2020 amid aglobal economic slowdown due to COVID-19. The growth was expected to increaseby 6.3 percent in 2021. Notably, the report assesses that Vietnam is showingstronger resilience compared to similar economies.

Likeother countries, Vietnam faces a very difficult period with more risks ofcybersecurity and also the dependence on digital technologies.

TrinhMinh Anh, Head of Office of the Inter-sectoral Steering Committeefor Global Economic Integration suggested that the government should givepriority to developing digital identity in Vietnamese, build smart barriers andstrongly develop electronic payment methods.

VuTu Thanh, a representative of the US-ASEAN Business Council, said the pandemicis having uneven impacts in each geographical area and business sector, by firmsize and by digital transformation level, so Vietnam should take its chance totake advantage of the digital economy.

Withthe scale of the local internet economy of 14 billion USD, which was increasing16 percent from the previous year despite the pandemic, Vietnam was forecastedto reach a scale of 50 billion USD in the next five years and be second only toIndonesia in the regional digital economy.

“Doingbusiness on digital platforms with goods and services transactions over theinternet is a great opportunity for Vietnam," Thanh said./.