E-commerce is developing rapidly in Vietnam but needs a new push to reach rural areas and help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) close the gap with large enterprises, experts have said.
They were speaking at a workshop on Overview of Vietnam e-Commerce: speeding up after the Covid-19 pandemic held across the border from Cambodia’s Prey Veng province in Dong Thap on Wednesday (July 22).
The digital business environment would help reach more customers in rural areas in places like the Mekong Delta to increase the competitiveness with large firms, the experts said.
E-commerce is an effective tool for SMEs in rural areas since they do not need to invest in brick-and-mortar stores and distribution systems, but many in the delta region have not grasped or fully exploited its advantages and remain focused on traditional sales channels, they said.
The workshop, attended by provincial authorities and hundreds of business executives from the delta region, was held to share and update information on e-commerce development trends in the country.
To help local businesses better understand the rules and procedures of participating on Tiki, one of the leading e-commerce platforms in Vietnam, Tiki training manager Nguyen Chi Hung spoke about registration procedure, effective sales processes and special support for Dong Thap enterprises in designing booths and posting products on the Tiki website.
The Vietnam E-Commerce Association also work with four modern e-commerce platforms including Tiki, Lazada, Sendo and Shopee to signed a strategic cooperation with the provincial Department of Industry and Trade to help local enterprises selling their products more smoothly on e-commerce floors.
Dong Thap has a number of agricultural products including specialities that are in great demand, but most of them are still distributed through intermediaries and traditional markets.
Every year in the province, as well as in the delta, farmers struggle to sell their products, and in some provinces they suffer losses when prices fall due to excessive supply.
It shares a 50km frontier with Peam Chor district’s Koh Roka and Koh Sampov communes, Preah Sdach district’s Preah Sdach and Banteay Chakrei communes and Kampong Trabek district’s Peam Montear commune in Cambodia’s Prey Veng province.
E-commerce is thus seen as a new avenue for them to seek new customers and even expand globally, experts said.
Dong Thap People’s Committee deputy chairman Pham Thien Nghia said the province pays special attention to and seeks to create favourable conditions for developing e-commerce.
The number of businesses entering e-commerce is increasing, he said.
In future the province will continue to support businesses with developing e-commerce by organising training courses, coordinating with Lazada to promote local products, encouraging businesses to go on modern e-commerce platforms, building free websites for businesses, and developing digital brands for the province’s key products, he added.
Dong Thap-based Chanh Thu Fruits Import Export Co on April 18, 2019 became the first Vietnamese enterprise to ship mangoes to the US market.
Dong Thap has more than 9,650ha of mango varieties with annual output of 127,000 tonnes, leading other provinces in the Mekong Delta region, then-provincial People’s Committee deputy chairman Nguyen Thanh Hung said on the same day.
VIET NAM NEWS/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
