Evidence shows that local businesses are still failing to seize upon a number of online exporting opportunities, therefore missing out on further development due to a lack of co-operation with partners and not conducting effective business transactions with a high level of profitability.

Recent years have witnessed e-commerce undergo strong growth at an average annual rate of 30%, greatly contributing to the national economy. However, the majority of these activities are focused only within the domestic market or for the promotion of Vietnamese trademarks internationally.

With global consumer habits changing, the global selling ability is increasing whilst online exports have moved passed the stage of being a trend and are now firmly a reality.

According to Vu Tien Loc, President of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, previous import and export activities were generally only for large-scale businesses that had huge economic and financial potential. They largely became giants of their sectors thanks to import and export activities, allowing them to dominate multiple fields of production and business.

This is in contrast to the current era where cross-border e-commerce and e-commerce in general has undergone huge changes, with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) seizing on this trend to enjoy an equal chance of accessing global trade.

Once a direct interaction between producers and consumers occurs, particularly with consumers who order items that lead to production, this will become a global trend, Loc says, adding that global customers represent both an opportunity and a challenge for local businesses.

Concurring with this point of view, Nguyen Xuan Hung, managing director of Iexport.vn Global Exchange, Fado Vietnam Company, states, “The biggest challenges of Vietnamese business individuals, especially SMEs when participating in online buying-selling, and cross-border online buying-selling, are human resources, language barriers, and an understanding of rules in this field.”

Recent years have seen businesses also start to pay greater attention to upgrading their websites with efforts to improve product images and clarify technical specification and standards, therefore providing an easier experience for international customers.

Despite this, exporting a single order is not easy as it also depends on many factors that relate to logistics conditions and payment conditions, which remains a challenge, Hung adds.

Advertisement and trade promotion

The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), the unit that is tasked with global trade promotion, has organised a range of activities to support entrepreneurs and businesses, especially SMEs, and boost cross-border trade via the internet.

Cao Quoc Hung, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, states the MoIT has been carrying out a broad array of measures such as issuing necessary documents and strengthening the dialogue that exists with the business community. This is being done to remove difficulties and problems faced in production and business activities, in particular import and export activities.

"We will expand and develop more online public services while implementing the motto "The Government offers better services to people and businesses". Enterprises also need to stay active in studying new trends, suitable models, and human and material resources in order to become involved in a digital transformation in import and export," Hung says.

This comes after the MoIT launched the Vietnam Export Support Platform at ECVN.com in late July, with features including the Import-Export Business Community, which will help businesses find opportunities to trade online and swiftly overcome difficulties caused by the novel coronavirus epidemic. It is highly anticipated that ECVN will help firms quickly approach and take full advantage of opportunities from new generation trade agreements such as the European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

These can be considered methodical and necessary steps that create the best possible conditions for Vietnamese businesses, especially SMEs, to participate in online export and trade, further develop their brands, whilst expanding their operational scale.