First-ever ASEAN Online Sale Day kicks off

AOSD will be held annually on August 8 (Photo: VNA)

Jakarta (VNA) – The first-ever ASEAN Online Sale Day (AOSD) was launched on August 8 at http://aseanonlinesaleday.com, gathering nearly 150 regional firms who offer diverse kinds of goods and services at promotion prices.

Initiated by Vietnam which is Chair of ASEAN 2020, the even marks the founding anniversary of the bloc (August 8) and aims to promote cross-border e-commerce within the grouping, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT)’s E-Commerce and Digital Economy Department.

This is a good chance for businesses from ASEAN member countries to introduce their products and increase their sales through e-commerce method amidst the COVID-pandemic.

This is also an opportunity for consumers in ASEAN and Vietnam in particular to experience online shopping in an open, safe and quality market under the supervision of governments.

Experts held that ASEAN’s e-commerce sector will triple its scale to 300 billion USD in 2025.

In the context of the pandemic, e-commerce is a bright spot of growth when more consumers and businesses are switching to online transactions.

The AOSD aims to encourage the trend and increase the interaction between consumers and businesses for more transactions in a safe manner, while assisting underway efforts of member countries in creating optimal conditions for trade and e-commerce, and increasing the digital integration as well as confidence of ASEAN businesses, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

According to a survey by Bain&Company in 2017, ASEAN’s digital economy will make up 8.5 percent of the regional GDP in 2025, much higher than 1.3 percent in 2015.

ASEAN has great advantage to make full use of digital transformation as a motivation for development with a growing ecosystem comprising more than 300 mobile subscribers and broadbands in the region.

AOSD will be held annually on August 8 as a chance to promote digital trade in the region and strengthen cooperation among relevant parties, including the partnership between state agencies, businesses ad consumers./.