MOIT targets e-commerce infrastructure development

E-commerce support services must be facilitated

Logistics, invoicing lag behind

Dang Hoang Hai, Director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Vietnam E-commerce and Digital Economy Agency (VECITA), said Vietnam’s e-commerce is rapidly growing, with transaction platforms increasingly diversified to include websites, social networking, and mobile phone and electronic devices. Ministry of Industry and Trade data show that about 46 percent of surveyed business have built and operated their own websites, and 13 percent joined e-commerce exchanges. The percentage of enterprises receiving orders and ordering products/services through websites increased 30 percent from 2012-2016, with 76 percent of commercial websites having a nationwide scale, and 24 percent a local or regional scale.

Electronic and online payment applications such as point of sale (POS), automated teller machine (ATM), bank accounts, and mobile phone and other electronic device-based applications are widely used. According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade data, about 97 percent of e-commerce business accept bank-based payment, and 16 percent accept card-based payment.

However, Hai said, e-commerce infrastructure such as electronic invoices and logistics is developing at a different pace and remains inconsistent. In a 2017 survey, 40 percent of customers complained about tardy and unprofessional delivery.

List of violators

Vu Hoang Lien, President of the Vietnam Internet Association, stressed that retailers should focus more on marketing and online sale, while enhancing the quality of delivery services as well as the online payment in their websites and keeping a close watch on new e-commerce trends to ensure their competitiveness.

Lien also pointed to the need to build reputation and prestige of trademarks to improve competitiveness, initially through the choosing of a good domain name.

According to a plan being crafted by the MOIT, a list of e-commerce websites and mobile applications that violate laws and regulations on online trading will be published.

The draft decree being prepared by the MOIT to regulate e-commerce activity raft decree also stipulates that organizations and individuals using e-commerce websites and mobile apps are not allowed to trade hunting rifles and shotguns, sports weapons, cigarettes, cigars and other finished tobacco products, alcohol, and rare wildlife. They have to remove prohibited products from their e-commerce websites.

In addition, owners of e-commerce websites are required to have technical solutions to prevent and remove information related to counterfeit goods, smuggled goods, or products and services violating intellectual property rights.

In an attempt to facilitate e-commerce transactions, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has worked with related agencies to develop the Keypay payment system. The system is designed to suit Vietnamese business conditions and provide electronic documentation management and e-invoice solutions for e-commerce.