At the signing ceremony (Photo: VNA) The programme was signed among the Ministry of Industry andTrade (MoIT)’s Department of E-Commerce and Digital Economy, the VietnamInstitute of Business Management Science and Digital Economy (VIDEM), theAssociation of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, and the Kim Nam Group.
Addressing the signing ceremony, MoIT Deputy Minister CaoQuoc Hung hailed efforts of all parties in putting the Vietnam-EU e-commercefloor into operation as soon as possible, thus helping Vietnamese firms tograsp opportunities from the EVFTA.
He underlined that amid the fourth Industrial Revolution,the improvement of competitiveness and the development of infrastructure systemmay create breakthroughs.
Hung noted that last year, under impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic,e-commerce in Vietnam grew 18 percent to over 11 billion USD, enabling peopleto shop for almost everything online.
The Deputy Minister said e-commerce platforms such as Alibaba and Amazon have helpedmicro-sized enterprises and business households to export their products, which seemedto be impossible in the past. He held that with technologyadvances, it is necessary to seek solutions to create breakthroughs in assisting Vietnamese businesses in getting access to foreign markets such as the EU.
The official affirmed that the programme is expected to be the first step inthe roadmap of designing fundamental technology-cored solutions to assistenterprises, especially SMEs and business households in improving capacity andopportunities to reach international markets, thus optimising opportunities offered by the EVFTA.
For his part, Dang Hoang Hai, Director of the Department ofE-Commerce and Digital Economy said that along with difficulties, COVID-19 hasalso brought in opportunities for Vietnam in speeding up transition.
The Department has cooperated with agencies representing the SME community ofVietnam to help them grasp chances from the deal, he said.
Hai adding that the Vietnam-EU e-commerce floor isexpected to realise the goal of connecting relevant digital solutions to builda complete digital ecosystem, helping businesses to make trading activities ona single platform.
VIDEM Director Nguyen Kim Hung said that the floor is a national-scale projectthat aims to create a B2B Marketplace, while building an “expressway”connecting Vietnamese firms with international partners, especially those fromEurope.
Hung said that the floor is connected with the existing trading floors ofcities and provinces, helping to build a national database facilitating the transparencyin origin of products, and providing information to the business community ofVietnam and other countries on trade deals and relevant policies.
The trading floor is also expected to contribute to bolstering the partnershipbetween Vietnam and the EU, especially in economy and trade.
Nguyen Van Than, a representative from the Association ofSmall- and Medium-Sized Enterprises, proposed that the VIDEM seek solutions tofacilitate Vietnamese firms’ integration and protect them from risks andchallenges while the trading floor becomes officially operational.
Statistics showed that the EU is one of the leading trade partners of Vietnamwith two-way trade reaching 56.45 billion USD in 2019, including 41.5 billion USD worth of Vietnamese exports./.
VNA
