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There are several problems that local agriculture businesses and cooperatives face when operating on digital platforms, including restricted production capabilities, and limited operational capacity. Their small scale of business also affects sales performance.
The shift toward digital transformation is an unavoidable trend, driven by a segment of young consumers, Vu Quang Phong, Director of the Trade and Investment Promotion Centre under the Vietnam Cooperative Alliance noted. However, due to challenges related to scale and financial resources, cooperatives are uncertain about committing completely to the process. They do not know how to invest in human resources and create comprehensive marketing and advertising campaigns.
Engaging in e-commerce goes beyond merely harvesting and selling products. It requires investments in packaging, logistics, transportation, and creating promotional campaigns. Businesses require systematic support to address these issues. They need to be guided and trained on online promotion, building a product’s image, product packaging and preservation procedures, customer care methods, and post-sales services.
Bui Huy Hoang, the Deputy Director of the Centre for Information and Digital Technology of the Vietnam E-Commerce and Digital Economy Agency (iDEA) pointed out that the challenges stem from the limited awareness and resources available to businesses. Many companies lack adequate personnel with expertise in information technology, sales processes, and marketing.
To address these issues, the Ministry of Information and Technology (MoIT) has built an e-commerce platform (sanviet.vn) that unifies the country’s 63 provinces and cities. The platform supports sellers and buyers on digital platforms in the provision of goods, the connection of services, and the creation of favourable conditions for a transparent and competitive e-commerce market. The platform will contribute to a national online centralised retail database from the central to local levels, offering consumers the highest quality products at reasonable prices.
MoIT also collaborates with provinces, localities, and e-commerce platforms to train cooperatives and business households, enabling them to acquire technological expertise and adapt their production and business models to align with emerging commercial trends.
The Ministry teaches participants how to set up storefronts, operate and process orders, manage logistics, and maintain product quality on prominent e-commerce platforms. It recently launched a series of e-commerce connections and coaching projects across the country. These programmes focus on enhancing regional connectivity and facilitate the marketing and consumption of agricultural products, food items, and local specialities through e-commerce channels.
Meanwhile, as a region with a high e-commerce index, the technology trading platform in the Mekong Delta of Can Tho City has become a valuable information channel for businesses and cooperatives in the region to discover and present products.
It has provided support and guidance to hundreds of businesses and cooperatives, enabling them to engage in online trading platforms and boost the agricultural and rural digital economy. Furthermore, the city has arranged training programmes, production and business establishments, and households to bring products to e-commerce platforms.
By leveraging the e-commerce delivery mechanism’s reach, agricultural products and local specialities have gained visibility and been promoted across numerous provinces and cities, benefiting from the widespread distribution. The Ministry of Information and Technology will continue to implement cross-border e-commerce cooperation programmes with major international private players and e-commerce platforms in the future.
In alignment with the Vietnamese government’s efforts to broaden financial services access, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has launched a US$5 million technical assistance programme funded by Switzerland to bolster the development of financial technologies, aimed at supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), including women-owned and women-led SMEs (WSMEs), in accessing finance. This initiative is part of a broader effort to enhance the digital finance sector, focusing on creating a secure market environment and fostering a thriving ecosystem, aligning with the government’s goal of facilitating financial services for consumers and SMEs.
