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Firms look to e-commerce to boost trade
E-Commerce is expected to help Viet Nam meet its export turnover target of more than US$110 billion this year, according to an official with the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce.
Vo Tan Thanh, director of the chamber's HCM City branch, said e-commerce was considered the best option for import-export companies in terms of time and pricing power.
Thanh spoke at an Open Sesame event held on Friday.
At the event organised by the world's largest online B2B marketplace for global trade Alibaba.com and OSB Joint Stock Co, Thanh said e-commerce would become indispensable in the near future for businesses, allowing them to access customers more easily.
Vietnamese small- and medium-d enterprises (SMEs) have paid more attention to international trading activities, and increase exports instead of only focusing on domestic markets.
Viet Nam has a good foundation for e-commerce to develop. The country has currently more than 30 million internet users, accounting for 35 per cent of the population.
Moreover, Viet Nam is one of the top countries in Asia that is developing rapid internet speed for information technology infrastructure.
According to the global e-commerce platform Alibaba.com, Viet Nam is viewed as a country with great potential, having 210,000 registered members on its platform as of the first quarter of this year.
According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, total export turnover for the first six months of the year reached $ 53.1 billion.
With rapid development of online trading in Viet Nam, the target is expected to be met.
Thanh said that Business-2-Business (B2B) e-commerce floors had attracted many businesses from around the world, including those from Viet Nam.
Timothy Leung, deputy chairman of Alibaba.com Group's global business and development division, said that "by using e-commerce, enterprises are able to easily access new markets and customers. Online trading helps reduce transaction times and costs".
There are 3,600-4,000 Vietnamese businesses per month that register on Alibaba.com. Vietnamese items that top the list for foreign viewers of the site are related to agriculture, food and beverage, and construction and property.
US, China and India are among the buyers who have great demands to seek Vietnamese suppliers.
This means that Vietnamese businesses will be able to gain a leg-up on e-commerce competition.
Thanh said that e-commerce had opened up opportunities for businesses to contact partners around the world, and make it easier to seek new clients as international consumers tend to search for new supplies of goods.
He said that using e-commerce, businesses should be responsible and reliable in their trading, and answer buyers' inquiries as quickly as possible.
Alibaba Group in collaboration with OSB Joint Stock Co and its partner VCCI have launched a project to help Vietnamese businesses intensify exports via e-commerce conducted nationwide from July to December.
The project is expected to contribute to export growth of Viet Nam in the remaining six months and promote e-commerce development among the Vietnamese business community.
The project targets supporting 500-600 local exporters with total sponsor value of VND21 billion ($1 million). It will give priority to exporters operating in key sectors such as agriculture, food, furniture, construction materials, minerals, chemicals, textiles and garments.
The exporters will have an opportunity to join the world's largest online B2B marketplace, with 45 per cent discount on member registration fee for a Gold Supplier on Alibaba.com.
They also will receive free training on e-commerce, and be able to meet large exporters to share experiences.
vietnamnews
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