Hanoi (VNA) – Social networks play a vitalrole in helping small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) participate inglobal value chain, said Facebook’s representative in Vietnam Huynh Kim Tuocsaid at a forum in Hanoi on October 19.

About 53 million Vietnamese people were active onFacebook on the monthly basis; 92 percent of whom use Facebook on theirsmartphones while 68 percent use it to interact with businesses, Tuoc stated atthe Forum on Supporting SMEs to Join Global Value Chain co-held by the VietnamChamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and Facebook.

The rate is relatively higher than the average of theworld and the region, bringing a great outlook for online marketing, he noted.

Tran Thi Thanh Tam, deputy director of the VCCI’s SMEsPromotion Centre, said that when joining the global value chain, Vietnameseenterprises will have more opportunities to access new markets and boostexports, particularly in the fields of textile and garment, footwear,electronics and seafood.

More importantly, they will gain access to newtechnologies, paving the way for manufacturing of high-quality products forexport, she said, adding that the global value chain will also allow companiesto improve their management capacity and labour skills as well as fostercooperation and business development.

Online marketing, surely, will see a robust growth inVietnam, helping the businesses to enhance their operational efficiency and integratemore deeply into the global economy, said Nguyen Thi Ly, sales manager in thenorth of Yen Sao Hoan My Co., Ltd, a swallow’s nest producer in HCM City.

However, Vietnamese consumers are yet to be acquaintedwith and have confidence in online purchases. So that more specific solutionsshould be tailored to increase their knowledge in e-commerce and raisecredibility of the companies, she suggested.

Tam also said support policies must be feasible and meetenterprises’ demands, for example, when creating technical trade barriers foran import item, the government should seek consultations from producers or theassociation of producers of that product. In addition, industrial parks shouldbecome centres for connecting enterprises and providers of support services.

Participants of the forum agreed that companies needs tobuild their own strategies to raise their competitiveness and shift from priceto non-price competition. They should also focus on branding and onlinemarketing, particularly through social networks like Facebook.-VNA