On June 7, 2024 in Ho Chi Minh City, the Department of European and American Markets, Ministry of Industry and Trade, chaired and coordinated with relevant agencies to organize an international workshop with the theme "Promoting the export of Vietnamese goods to international markets through cross-border e-commerce systems".

This workshop is one of many activities within the framework of the event series "Connecting international supply chains 2024" (Viet Nam International Sourcing 2024) organized by the Ministry of Industry and Trade in coordination with the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City.

The workshop attracted the participation of more than 200 enterprises, including manufacturers and exporters from Vietnam and the region, to help Vietnamese enterprises have a clearer view of the potential and opportunities that e-commerce brings; at the same time, quickly grasp the necessary knowledge and skills to bring Vietnamese products to the global market through cross-border e-commerce.

Speaking at the workshop, Mr. Ta Hoang Linh, Director of the European - American Market Department, Ministry of Industry and Trade, said that cross-border e-commerce is increasingly booming, growing rapidly and becoming one of the top priorities, a core factor of the global economy and an inevitable trend that no country can stand outside. In the context of Vietnam's increasingly deep integration into the world economy, along with opportunities from new generation free trade agreements, participating in the online import and export system, cross-border e-commerce channels is an effective solution, opening up many opportunities for Vietnamese enterprises.

Online export not only helps businesses expand their customer base and increase market reach, but also contributes to bringing Vietnamese brands to consumers in many markets around the world.

According to the 2023 e-commerce report, retail e-commerce revenue in Vietnam in 2023 increased by 25% compared to 2022, reaching 20.5 billion USD. Thereby, putting Vietnam in the group of 10 countries with the highest e-commerce growth rate in the world. The global e-commerce market is forecast to have strong growth with an expected revenue of 7.4 trillion USD by 2025.

According to statistics from Amazon Global Selling, the number of products sold by Vietnamese businesses on Amazon has increased by more than 300% in the past 5 years. Thousands of Vietnamese small and medium-sized enterprises are now exporting through Amazon, with the number of businesses with annual revenue of over 1 million USD skyrocketing nearly 10 times.

Vietnamese brands have been successful in exporting through Amazon such as Minh Long ceramics, Sunhouse kitchenware, BeeFunrni furniture, Lafooco agricultural products... Through Amazon's platform, Vietnamese goods have the opportunity to reach more than 2 billion people online each year in markets in North America, Europe and many other countries such as Australia, Japan, Singapore, India...

With the support of technology and e-commerce platforms, businesses can proactively receive orders anywhere, anytime, and control and operate sales activities effectively.

However, to effectively exploit cross-border e-commerce and limit risks, according to experts, businesses need to clearly understand and comply with regulations on consumer protection, customer information security and privacy, transaction policies and regulations on taxes, customs, copyright, trademarks and intellectual property, etc. 

In addition, in terms of information, customer needs, tastes and criteria set by European countries and the United States are quite strict, requiring Vietnamese businesses to make efforts to compete and adapt to the criteria, regulations of products and the cross-border e-commerce environment.

At the workshop, investors and related customers also asked questions to Amazon Global Selling representatives regarding issues such as logistics, taxes, payments, related certificates for food export products, returns, warehousing issues at Amazon... Especially Amazon's support for businesses in exporting goods.

The European - American Market Department and Amazon Global Selling hope that with useful and updated information on consumer trends, demand, market potential, experience and online export implementation journey, it will help participating businesses raise awareness of cross-border e-commerce to accelerate their participation, develop international business, and bring Vietnamese products and brands to customers around the world through e-commerce.

Thuy Linh