The Hanoitimes - E-commerce is expected to help Vietnam meet its export turnover target of more than US$110 billion this year, according to an official with the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce.

Vo Tan Thanh, director of the chamber's HCM City branch, said e-commerce was considered the best option for import-export companies in terms of time and pricing power.

Thanh spoke at an Open Sesame event held o­n Friday.

At the event organised by the world's largest o­nline B2B marketplace for global trade Alibaba.com and OSB Joint Stock Co, Thanh said e-commerce would become indispensable in the near future for businesses, allowing them to access customers more easily.

Vietnamese small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have paid more attention to international trading activities, and increase exports instead of o­nly focusing o­n domestic markets.

Vietnam has a good foundation for e-commerce to develop. The country has currently more than 30 million internet users, accounting for 35 per cent of the population.

Moreover, Vietnam is o­ne of the top countries in Asia that is developing rapid internet speed for information technology infrastructure.

According to the global e-commerce platform Alibaba.com, Vietnam is viewed as a country with great potential, having 210,000 registered members o­n its platform as of the first quarter of this year.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, total export turnover for the first six months of the year reached $ 53.1 billion.

With rapid development of o­nline trading in Vietnam, the target is expected to be met.

Thanh said that Business-2-Business (B2B) e-commerce floors had attracted many businesses from around the world, including those from Vietnam.

Timothy Leung, deputy chairman of Alibaba.com Group's global business and development division, said that "by using e-commerce, enterprises are able to easily access new markets and customers. o­nline trading helps reduce transaction times and costs".

There are 3,600-4,000 Vietnamese businesses per month that register o­n Alibaba.com. Vietnamese items that top the list for foreign viewers of the site are related to agriculture, food and beverage, and construction and property.

US, China and India are among the buyers who have great demands to seek Vietnamese suppliers.

This means that Vietnamese businesses will be able to gain a leg-up o­n e-commerce competition.

Thanh said that e-commerce had opened up opportunities for businesses to contact partners around the world, and make it easier to seek new clients as international consumers tend to search for new supplies of goods.

He said that using e-commerce, businesses should be responsible and reliable in their trading, and answer buyers' inquiries as quickly as possible.

Alibaba Group in collaboration with OSB Joint Stock Co and its partner VCCI have launched a project to help Vietnamese businesses intensify exports via e-commerce conducted nationwide from July to December.

The project is expected to contribute to export growth of Vietnam in the remaining six months and promote e-commerce development among the Vietnamese business community.

The project targets supporting 500-600 local exporters with total sponsor value of VND21 billion ($1 million). It will give priority to exporters operating in key sectors such as agriculture, food, furniture, construction materials, minerals, chemicals, textiles and garments.

The exporters will have an opportunity to join the world's largest o­nline B2B marketplace, with 45 per cent discount o­n member registration fee for a Gold Supplier o­n Alibaba.com.

They also will receive free training o­n e-commerce, and be able to meet large exporters to share experiences.

SGO