Cross-border e-commerce has become an important channel for exporting goods, but there are still many challenges for micro, small and medium enterprises.
Opportunities intertwine with challenges
Sharing at the Conference "Potential and opportunities of cross-border e-commerce in Vietnam", held on the morning of November 26, Ms. Le Hoang Oanh - Director of the Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy (Ministry of Industry and Trade) - said: In recent years, cross-border e-commerce has grown rapidly, if in 2021 this platform reached 1,900 billion USD, in 2023 it reached 2,300 billion USD and is expected to reach 7,938 billion USD by 2030, an average growth rate of up to 26.2%/year.
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| Cross-border e-commerce has helped businesses expand export markets and rapidly increase sales. Photo: TT |
Vietnam has witnessed proud developments in e-commerce. In 2023 alone, the scale of e-commerce reached 20.5 billion USD, the scale of the digital economy reached 30 billion USD, ranked in the top 3 in Southeast Asia and is expected to reach 45 billion USD by 2025.
It is worth noting that cross-border e-commerce is identified as a lever for online exports. According to data from the Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy, through a survey of 53% of enterprises participating in exports through e-commerce platforms, 47% use self-built websites or applications. In addition, 60% of surveyed enterprises said that the value of imported and exported goods through e-commerce accounts for 10-30%. Popular markets applying e-commerce for export activities include: Korea accounts for 45%; Japan 40%, China 38%...
In fact, in recent times, cross-border e-commerce has helped businesses expand export markets and rapidly increase sales: The average number of buyers of Vietnamese products has increased by 55%; the number of Vietnamese products available on the platform has increased by 24%.
In addition, this platform also helps businesses grasp and respond quickly to market demand; escape market limitations in terms of scale and seasonality; as well as build and enhance brand recognition in foreign markets, creating a competitive advantage over other export businesses.
Representative of the Department of Commerce of Yunnan, China, Mr. Liu Liang - Chairman of the China Yunnan E-commerce Association - assessed: In recent years, Vietnam has had remarkable development in the field of e-commerce, with an average annual growth rate exceeding 25%. Vietnam has a large number of young consumers, strong demand for international online shopping, which creates a natural complementary relationship with the Chinese market.
“ We see that Vietnam’s strong products such as agricultural products, handicrafts, clothing and footwear have great potential in the Chinese market. For example, Vietnamese dragon fruit, cashew nuts and coffee beans have appeared on the dining tables of Chinese consumers through Yunnan’s cross-border e-commerce platforms. In the future, with the optimization of logistics and policies, the market share of these products will continue to expand, ” said Mr. Liu Liang.
Besides the advantages, there are also many challenges for cross-border e-commerce, such as: Protecting consumer rights, such as how do overseas buyers or domestic buyers through e-commerce channels face product complaints? Can tax evasion be prevented? Or is it protecting consumer rights against competition from foreign goods?
Many businesses also reflect on how to keep logistics costs low and deliver on time; difficulties in understanding the legal regulations of the target market; language barriers...
In particular, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Vietnam still face many difficulties related to legal barriers, tariffs, logistics, payments, etc. In addition to fluctuations in the international market, trade tensions, and increasingly high requirements for quality standards, it requires great efforts from the business community, especially micro, small and medium enterprises.
Need to build a more complete ecosystem
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| Mr. Liu Liang - Chairman of China Yunnan E-commerce Association - spoke |
From the implementation in Yunnan, China, Mr. Liu Liang shared that to promote trade cooperation between Vietnam and China, it is necessary to build a more complete e-commerce ecosystem.
Mr. Liu Liang pointed out three aspects, including: Continuing to improve the warehouse logistics network, building more bonded warehouses and sorting centers, ensuring that Vietnamese goods clear customs quickly; through big data and artificial intelligence technology, conducting accurate market analysis, helping Vietnamese enterprises better understand the needs of Chinese consumers; promoting e-commerce enterprises of the two countries to organize many exchange and training activities, fostering e-commerce human resources with an international vision.
According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Minh Huyen - Deputy Director of the Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy, to support the business community, the Department's leaders have assigned the Center for E-commerce Development to research and develop the Online Export Ecosystem (Ecomex) with specific solutions, to realize the Government's orientation, joining hands to support Vietnamese enterprises to bring products with export potential to access international markets through e-commerce.
In addition, the Ministry of Industry and Trade also organizes cross-border e-commerce training programs to improve capacity and disseminate new regulations, procedures and knowledge to businesses.
From a business perspective, Mr. Pham Anh Tuan - Deputy General Director of Vietnam Post Corporation - said that an e-commerce platform needs many floors to operate. To be able to go live, there are many issues, such as: Marketing, ensuring superior delivery management... Cross-border e-commerce also involves adapting to the culture and laws of the host country... along with many requirements that businesses must strive to meet.
The Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy also proposed a number of orientations for cross-border e-commerce development in the coming time, namely: Developing green and sustainable cross-border e-commerce; strengthening the management of e-commerce import and export goods via express delivery; connecting tax declaration for cross-border e-commerce; promulgating and implementing the national e-commerce development plan for the period 2026 - 2030 focusing on developing and optimizing the logistics and payment systems serving cross-border e-commerce...
| At this conference, the Center for E-commerce Development and a number of businesses signed a MOU pledging to promote cross-border e-commerce, support Vietnamese small, medium and micro enterprises in seeking online export opportunities, and bring Vietnamese goods to more international markets. |
Source: https://congthuong.vn/thuong-mai-dien-tu-xuyen-bien-gioi-co-hoi-va-thach-thuc-cho-xuat-khau-san-pham-viet-360949.html
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