As an international extension of the 2020 Spring Thunder initiative of Alibaba Group, Alibaba.com’s ‘Project Sprout Up’ is a digital solution aimed at helping local SMEs to compete through digitization in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic in Vietnam.

According to a survey by Alibaba.com, 65% of global buyers are now using online platforms to source products in place of on-site visits. ‘Project Sprout Up’ aims to help existing and potential Alibaba.com users in Vietnam better access B2B trade opportunities with these global buyers. There are more than 20 million active buyers from over 190 countries and regions and an average of 300,000 inquiries made daily for goods ranging from raw materials to finished products on the platform today. Over 600,000 products from Vietnamese sellers are currently listed on the Alibaba.com platform, including items from key local industries like food & beverage, furniture, home & garden, agriculture and apparel.

The initiative will support Vietnamese SMEs in three key areas - faster on boarding onto the Alibaba.com platform for establishing a global reach, access to solutions designed to accelerate business growth, and tailored services to help SMEs deepen their online trade capabilities. These tailor-made services and a specially developed local program are bespoke to Vietnamese sellers on the Alibaba.com platform.

“Vietnam has been gaining a strong reputation amongst global buyers with its manufacturing capabilities, high quality products, competitive pricing and focus on exports. While the B2C segment has adopted e-commerce more instinctively, some entrepreneurs have also established global B2B trading using digital channels. This year even more businesses have felt the need for sustainable business models. We believe that global trade through B2B e-commerce can provide that opportunity and enable more SMEs to recover and even generate sustained growth,” said Mr. Zhang Kuo, General Manager of Alibaba.com.

PV