Nguyen Thanh Hung, chair of the Vietnam E-commerce Association (Vecom), said with the current conditions, Vietnam’s export companies can export products through e-commerce platforms.

Through Alibaba.com, enterprises have opportunities to promote their products to 260 million buyers in over 190 countries and territories. Many enterprises in the textile and industry, footwear, farm produce and handicrafts sectors reported significant increases in exports in 2019 thanks to the channel.

Pham Ngoc Hung, deputy chair of the HCM City Business Association, said it is difficult for SMEs to advertise their products to the world’s consumers through traditional channels because of their limited capability. However, if the enterprises can exploit the e-commerce platform, they will be able to easily access the global market at low costs.

The E-commerce Index Report shows that Vietnam has over 500,000 small and medium enterprises (SMEs), but only 32 percent of businesses have joined global trade through digital channels.

Nguyen Thi Minh Huyen, deputy director of the E-commerce and Digital Economy Agency, also said cross-border e-commerce will have the value of $3.3 trillion in the next two years.

The Vietnam Agarwood Center provides high-quality agarwood products, from raw materials to finished products. It has ab agarwood garden and R&D team with 30 years of experience.

Vu Trung Son, director of the company, said the company had met difficulties in the past and was on the verge of bankruptcy. Son then decided to register membership on Alibaba.com and his business has improved since then.

Son now receives hundreds of inquiries a month, 60-70 percent of which have become orders. From a small startup, it has developed into Zensa Group with three subsidiaries.

“Now we receive 100 offers to buy products from all over the world each month, and 80 percent of them are real orders,” he said.

Zhang Kuo, CEO of Alibaba.com, noted that Vietnam has great advantages such as the high population of 90 million, high proportion of internet users (60 percent), a developing economy and high FDI capital.

Vietnam has advantages in textiles and garments, interior furnishings, and F&B.

Alibaba hopes that it will have 10,000 SMEs on Alibaba.com in Vietnam in the next fuve years.

Currently, only 12 percent of Vietnam’s SMEs use digital platforms. Many enterprises still lack skills in selling goods online.

Huyen said that online shopping is growing rapidly and customers’ requirements have become more complex. Therefore, businesses need to adapt to the new circumstances and take full advantage of mobile commerce to offer better experiences to customers.

Kim Chi 

Vietnam’s e-commerce market to surpass US$17 billion in 2023

Vietnam’s e-commerce market is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.3 percent from 9.4 billion USD last year to 17.3 billion USD in 2023, data analytics company GlobalData forecast.

Craft villages benefit from e-commerce

In recent years, craft villages in Ho Chi Minh City have introduced their products on online trading platforms. This has helped the villages trade efficiently and assert their brand value.