HÀ NỘI — The Việt Nam Trade Promotion Agency (Vietrade) and Alibaba.com, the global business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce platform of the Alibaba Group, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on supporting Vietnamese firms to boost online export and organised an international e-commerce conference in Hà Nội on Tuesday.

Under the MoU, Alibaba.com pledged to provide technical assistance in digital transformation for trade promotion organisations and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) of Việt Nam.

Meanwhile, Vietrade, an agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), is committed to working with Alibaba.com to improve the digital transformation and e-commerce capacity of the targeted groups. They are set to continue organising a series of capacity building events to benefit more than 1,200 businesses nationwide in the next three years.

Long-term cooperation plans related to digital transformation, business brands and product trademark building, awareness improvement, and advice provision for firms to operate on Alibaba.com will also be made and implemented.

Addressing the e-commerce conference – the first big event of Alibaba.com in Việt Nam – Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Đỗ Thắng Hải said the e-commerce sector in Việt Nam grew 18 per cent in 2020 to reach US$11.8 billion. Though the expansion was slower than forecast, Việt Nam was still the only Southeast Asian nation to post a double-digit growth rate in e-commerce.

As the COVID-19 pandemic has seriously hampered global trade and supply chains, the MoIT has directed Vietrade to adjust many activities, including stepping up online trade promotion to help enterprises fuel exports.

Hai said that Alibaba.com, one of the world’s leading e-commerce platforms, is a potential market for Vietnamese businesses to boost sales to customers around the world.

Therefore, cooperating with big partners such as Alibaba.com to carry out trade promotion and export solutions will bring about more chances for local firms to expand in foreign markets, he said.

The official added the MoIT welcomed Alibaba.com’s decision to set up an office with Vietnamese staff in the country, which, he said, reflects the company’s strong and long-term commitment here.

Zhang Kuo, General Manager of Alibaba.com, said the firm has continually developed partnerships with associations, business partners, and banks with a view to helping SMEs in Việt Nam improve their digital capacity and operations, customer management and order fulfilment.

Via cooperation with partners in Việt Nam and around the world, Alibaba.com looks to achieve over $100 billion in gross merchandise value by 2024, assist more than 10 million SMEs around the globe, and have over 10,000 suppliers from Việt Nam involved in B2B e-commerce activities on Alibaba.com.

With the commitment to supporting 10,000 SMEs in Việt Nam in five years and promoting digital transformation, Alibaba.com will keep cooperating closely with local authorities to provide suitable and effective online services and solutions, he added. — VNS