VietNamNet Bridge - eBay has agreed to buy a 20 per cent share of Vietnamese e-commerce company PeaceSoft.

Nguyen Hoa Binh, CEO of PeaceSoft said eBay's investment would help them achieve their goal of providing Viet Nam's internet users with one-stop destination for all their e-commerce needs including a domestic and global marketplace, pay for performance marketing solutions and on-line payments.

Furthermore, the investment would better enable Peacesoft to develop domestic e-commerce while simultaneously enriching an international trade hub for Viet Nam via eBay's global network.

Jay Lee, general manager of eBay Asia Pacific, said: "Since our co-branding agreement with Peacesoft in 2008, Chodientu.vn and eBay have made strong progress and we are delighted to be deepening the relationship.

"The investment provides eBay with a greater opportunity to participate in Viet Nam's rapidly growing e-commerce market, while giving greater access to Vietnamese sellers and buyers to eBay's global marketplace for over 94 million active users."

According to the Ministry of Information and Communications, there are nearly 27 million internet users accounting for 31 per cent of the country's population and it continues growing. It is predicted that e-commerce will increase five-fold by 2015.

Nguyen Manh Quyen, an official of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said that with the burgeoning growth of e-commerce, Viet Nam was a strategic choice of investment. Through the combination of eBay's world-wide expertise and PeaceSoft's local insights, e-commerce in Viet Nam was poised to enjoy increased access to the global market and also meet the local market demands.

Bui Quang Tien, director of Payment Department of the State Bank of Viet Nam, said this investment would create long-term value to sellers and buyers and enable Viet Nam to ultimately raise its on-line marketplace competitiveness and capabilities.

The State Bank of Viet Nam granted a licence for PeaceSoft's website NganLuong.vn after two year of a trial test.

NganLuong.vn has become the first on-line payment system for domestic and cross-border e-commerce that helps centralise and facilitate payment issues bringing convenience and safety values to all Viet Nam's e-commerce transactions.

Source: VNS