Understanding the tremendous difficulties that Vietnamese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are facing amid the pandemic and prolonged social distancing, the Viet Nam Trade Promotion Agency (Vietrade), an agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, has joined forces with Alibaba.com, the leading cross-border e-commerce platform for business-to-business (B2B), to launch “ALL IN, ALL WIN”, a Covid supporting program.

“ALL IN, ALL WIN” is a tailor-made program for Vietnamese businesses led by global and local experts and signifies the next step in this strategic partnership. With the goal of helping SMEs achieve e-commerce success by overcoming current challenges and gaining access to global business opportunities, the program provides five exclusive offers for Vietnamese SMEs. The offers equip them with the right tools, right knowledge, and a much-needed inspiration from other local SMEs on the platform.

Empower SMEs with knowledge, customized solutions, and inspiration

Businesses have significantly been challenged since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the recent outbreak in Vietnam’s two major economic hubs, Ho Chi Minh city and Hanoi, has poured more fuel into the fire. During this time, Vietnamese SMEs face tremendous difficulties and are in critical need of support, both in terms of solutions and even more so, mentality.

However, with challenge comes opportunity. Alibaba.com has identified the trend of global buyers moving online to connect with Vietnamese exporters and collaborated with Vietrade to help SMEs reach their e-potential. The joint effort aims to provide knowledge and solutions from global and local digital instructors, as well as inspiration from local SME leaders on their digital transformation experience and success.

Mr. Hoang Minh Chien - Deputy Director of the Viet Nam Trade Promotion Agency said, "In the past two years, the COVID-19 epidemic has seriously affected production, investment and business activities around the world, disrupted supply chain as well as international trade. Trade promotion activities also face many difficulties. Traditional trade promotion activities that require direct exchanges between suppliers, distributors, buyers, exporters and importers cannot be done. In that context, trade promotion activities on the digital platform have been coordinated with e-commerce platfroms by the the Viet Nam Trade Promotion Agency, in which training and coordination activities with Alibaba.com have been well received and appreciated by partners and entrepreneurs. The implementation of trade promotion activities on the digital platform also has advantages when it attracts the participation and support of many stakeholders such as central state management agencies, Vietnamese trade deals abroad, domestic and international trade promotion organizations, localities, supporting enterprises supporting organizations, units supporting trade promotion services, export services...All of which has played a hand in forming a relatively complete trade promotion ecosystem. This program is part of an activity series by the Viet Nam Trade Promotion Agency, which aims to promote the application of information technology and digital transformation into company’s strategies. This endeavor is hoped to improve the awareness, capacity and efficiency among Vietanemses enterprise to bring e-commerce into their production and business activities”.

Knowledge is the most powerful tool of every business. The “ALL IN, ALL WIN” Covid Support Program helps SMEs to level up their e-commerce skill and establish a mindset for e-success by allowing them to: Stay up to date with the latest export policy from MOIT and Vietrade’s export white papers and training materials; Get exclusive access to USD8,000 worth of more than ten exclusive training programs package that was never available to the public before; Make well-informed, winning business decisions with the trendiest and most in-depth market insights and data analysis from Alibaba.com.

On top of that, the program also offers customized and highly relevant solutions for Vietnamese businesses to jump-start their e-commerce success: Leverage the expertise on policymaking, e-commerce, and best practice during Covid from the instructors - Vietnamese SME owners who successfully accelerated their business through digital transformation – to develop their e-commerce journey and tailored solutions; Consult one-on-one with digital instructors from Alibaba.com for customized e-solutions.

Roger Lou, Country manager Alibaba.com Vietnam says, “I myself have been working in Ho Chi Minh City since May 2021 and witnessed how Covid affects people's daily lives and business and trade environment. Through this program, we want to give a suggestion to Vietnamese SME to explore a new direction in e-commerce with Alibaba.com. In the current business context, digital transformation in general and e-commerce in particular is an effective and affordable tool for businesses to create new sales channels and revenue streams. As the world's major consumer markets such as the United States and Europe have achieved the "new normal", we observe from our platform data and see that the demand for shopping and consumption in those markets has recovered and been growing again, which means great opportunities for Vietnamese manufacturers and traders to have direct access to potential customers through Alibaba.com right now”.

To create a well-rounded experience, “ALL IN, ALL WIN” program is also designed to boost morale and get SMEs inspired by accessing case studies from real people, real companies, and real experiences throughout their e-commerce journey. During this challenging time, the program and its founders hope to support Vietnamese businesses to write their own success stories with the power of cross-border e-commerce.

"Entering 2021, the epidemic continues to persist, the strategy of business expansion on Alibaba.com platform is very prompt as orders are still arriving regularly. The company's revenue in the first 06 months of the year reached about 4 billion, increases 300% compared to the previous year, and reached 50% of the plan, which is a success beyond our expectations”, said Ms. Nguyen Thi Quynh Nhu -  CEO of Lis Global Company.

Ms. Doan Tran Thuy Linh, brand representative of Light Coffee also shared, “We started exporting online with Alibaba.com B2B e-commerce platform. After two years, we have exported roasted and ground coffee to Thailand and Malaysia, which are two very competitive markets in this industry. Alibaba.com has a technology background and professional store management system, where sellers can automatically create promotions, or change product images flexibly. When joining Alibaba.com, in addition to the guidance of the agent, businesses like us can also learn more from Alibaba.com instructors through seminars and workshops, which we find extremely useful”.

A partnership for the success of all

“ALL IN, ALL WIN” Covid supporting program represents the next step of the partnership between Alibaba.com and Vietrade with the mutual goal of helping SMEs to survive and prevail. This partnership and multiple initiatives offered by Alibaba.com also demonstrate the platform’s quest to build an alliance with the local industry government that fuels SMEs’ growth by reaching global buyers.

Earlier this year, the two partners have officially signed an MoU to commence their cooperation and co-organized the “2021 Alibaba.com International B2B Trade E-Commerce Summit” – Alibaba’s first offline mega event in Vietnam. This mega event is one of the activities within “Project Sprout Up”, a landmark initiative launched by the platform in August 2020. This initiative supports Vietnamese SMEs in three critical areas including (1) faster onboarding onto the Alibaba.com platform for establishing a global reach, (2) access to solutions designed to accelerate business growth, and (3) tailored services to help SMEs deepen their online trade capabilities.

To help businesses transition over to the “new normal” where digitalization is a must for businesses, “ALL IN, ALL WIN” Covid Supporting program will be conducted online and guide registered companies through all steps of the five offers.