About 50 percent of respondents say that business benefit from participating in e-commerce (online) exchanges, according to a recent survey from the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).

The survey collected opinions from 2,000 enterprises. Only 10 percent of them underestimated the effectiveness of e-commerce on their businesses.

E-commerce costs are low, accounting for merely 5 percent of investment capital, yet it brought total revenue up 33 percent. In recent years, turnover from e-commerce has gradually increased.

It has helped companies attract more customers, promote company image, cut costs, and raise revenue and profit.

Tran Dinh Toan, deputy director of the OSB Company - operator of the website Alibaba.com - said e-marketing is key for companies to promote trade and investment and they have paid much more attention to marketing for e-commerce activities.

"Firms also tend to bolster trade by co-ordinating e-commerce with traditional methods to maximise effectiveness. For instance, before attending exhibitions or fairs, Vietnamese companies will email foreign partners to set up meetings," he said.

Business Director of OSB Co Bui Duc Tuan said this will help companies enter more countries and access foreign partners more quickly.

Nguyen Ngoc Lam, a representative of VNG Corporation - the operator of the website 123mua.com.vn - said that the MoIT should cooperate with the Ministry of Information and Communications to issue reports on internet development in Vietnam, habits of users, data on e-commerce operations, such as the number of transactions and the revenues of the country's leading e-commerce websites.

The Prime Minister has ratified a plan for e-commerce development from 2011-15 to enhance the competitive edge of enterprises and the national competitiveness as well as speed up industrialisation and modernisation.

To realise the plan, the State will perfect legal systems on e-commerce, develop human resources, provide online public services and bolster applying IT to production and trade and services, among others./.