Cross-border e-commerce is growing strongly

According to Ms. Le Thi Thu Hang - Policy Department, Department of E-Commerce and Digital Economy, Ministry of Industry and Trade, cross-border e-commerce has been growing strongly recently.

Statista's report shows that by 2022, cross-border e-commerce revenue accounts for 22% of total world e-commerce revenue. In particular, cross-border e-commerce sales of the 16 largest EU countries have reached 220 billion Euro and account for about 38.9% of e-commerce sales of the whole Europe.

In China, cross-border e-commerce import and export has accounted for 40% of the country's e-commerce sales.

In Vietnam, with a growth rate of 20%/year, Vietnam's e-commerce is ranked among the world's leading growth rates. In particular, cross-border e-commerce recorded huge growth. In the 2022 impact report on small and medium-sized enterprises announced by Amazon, the export value of goods of Vietnamese businesses selling on Amazon (cross-border e-commerce platform) has grown to more than 45% in 2022.

Also according to Amazon, Vietnam's cross-border (B2C) retail revenue is expected to reach 256.1 trillion VND (equivalent to 11.1 billion USD) in 2026.

The representative of the Department of E-Commerce and Digital Economy said that the potential and opportunities to promote increased exports through cross-border e-commerce in Vietnam are still very large. However, businesses also face many barriers when participating in cross-border e-commerce.

Ms. Hang pointed out four main barriers including: Cost, regulations, information, and capacity.

In particular, in terms of costs, businesses still encounter difficulties in administrative and marketing costs; costs of transporting goods abroad (logistics); International payment costs and foreign currency conversion costs.

Regarding regulatory barriers, to sell to other countries around the world, businesses must understand the Consumer Protection Law in the host country; facing difficulties due to high customs duties and different import regulations of each country's market.

Regarding information barriers, most businesses said they lack information about relevant regulations of foreign markets; about international transportation; about how to sell online abroad; about international payment options.

Regarding capacity barriers, 85% of businesses said they do not have enough capacity and cannot compete in the region and globally. Besides, businesses are not prepared to meet the tastes of foreign consumers; Many businesses also admit they have difficulty with language barriers.

Effectively take advantage of FTAs to promote cross-border e-commerce growth

In recent times, the Government and the Ministry of Industry and Trade have had many programs to promote digital transformation and expand export markets through online export.

It can be mentioned in Decree 80/2021/ND-CP detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Support for Small and Medium Enterprises, with regulations on support of up to 50% of private contract value. Consulting on successfully registering product and service accounts on international e-commerce platforms (Clause 3c, Article 25); and support up to 50% of the cost of maintaining accounts on international e-commerce platforms (no more than 50 million VND/year, no more than 2 years) (Clause 3d, Article 25).

In addition, there are also programs to support the organization of annual e-commerce events to stimulate domestic market demand and expand cross-border e-commerce activities; Project "Promoting businesses to directly participate in foreign distribution networks until 2030".

As for the Department of E-Commerce and Digital Economy, the unit is implementing projects such as: Providing information on trade opportunities for Vietnamese import-export enterprises on the export market information portal; Platform to support export businesses; Providing a virtual reality online fair platform within the ecosystem supporting Vietnamese import-export businesses; Software to support businesses in declaring electronic origin forms.

Notably, according to Ms. Hang, new generation Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) have favorable provisions to support the development of e-commerce, digital economy and paperless trade.

“New generation FTAs have a comprehensive scope, beyond the framework of goods trade liberalization; There are new contents such as investment, public procurement, e-commerce and encouraging the development of small and medium-sized enterprises," Ms. Hang said, adding that Vietnam's trade with partners has improved. and currently negotiating FTAs, which always account for more than 80% of Vietnam's total trade turnover. This is a very good condition to take advantage of FTAs to promote cross-border e-commerce.

Specifically, in new generation FTAs, the legal value of electronic documents and electronic signatures is accepted; reduce tariff conditions on digital content products; Encourage widespread publication of commercial management documents and acceptance of electronic records of these documents; Strengthen online consumer protection and personal data protection.

To grow exports through cross-border e-commerce to effectively take advantage of the advantages brought by FTAs, representatives of the Department of E-Commerce and Digital Economy recommend that businesses need to proactively learn about international commitments. economy in FTAs such as EVFTA, CPTPP... Along with that, improve the competitiveness of businesses through proactively innovating business thinking; standardize production and business to meet the requirements and criteria of international markets; Have a long-term strategy to build product brands. In addition, strengthen links and cooperation with partners; Improve the application of digital technology, innovate business models in a green and sustainable direction./.

Minh Toan