Ministry pushes modern technology for e-commerce development

Developing last-mile logistics is an important component of the national supply chain

High growth rate

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Vietnam eCommerce and Digital Economy Agency (IDEA), B2C (business-to-consumer) e-commerce has grown about 30 percent per year to reach US$8.06 billion in value in 2018, accounting for 4.2 percent of Vietnam’s total retail sales of goods and service revenue. About 39.9 million people in Vietnam shopped online last year.

IDEA Director Dang Hoang Hai quoted Google and Temasek’s latest report saying that the Southeast Asian internet economy reached US$72 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV) in 2018 across online travel, e-commerce, online media, and ride hailing, up 37 percent from 2017. Of this, the merchandise value of Vietnam’s market hit US$9 billion. Vietnam has reached a four-percent internet economy per gross domestic product (GDP) ratio, ranking first among Southeast Asian countries in this area.

Although it is growing, according to Hai, Vietnam’s digital economy infrastructure, including electronic payment and distribution, e-commerce and information technology workforce, and data security and safety, needs to be improved. Some Vietnamese enterprises, including e-commerce platforms, have not paid due attention to technology modernization, Hai said.

Intensive development

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has been implementing programs for e-commerce development for the 2016-2020 and 2014-2020 periods in accordance with prime ministerial decisions.

Hai said the ministry proposed that the government issue national e-commerce development programs for the 2021-2025 period, which focus on technology investment and intensive development, and encouraging e-commerce enterprises to develop advanced applications using new technology platforms of the Fourth Industrial Revolution or Industry 4.0.

The ministry also suggested that the government improve e-commerce policies and laws, including review of Government Decree 52/2013/ND-CP on e-commerce, amendment of e-commerce management regulations towards enhancing the role and responsibility of e-commerce service providers, and review, adjustment and supplementation of regulations on dealing with administrative violations in the field of e-commerce.