Efforts to develop e-commerce into a pillar in the digital economy

Thanks to the diversity of operating models, objects and thesupply processes of goods and services, along with the support from internet infrastructure and modern technology, e-commerce has become an important pillar for the development of the digital economy.

In 2021, when the COVID-19 pandemic made severe impacts on the trade and service activities of Vietnam when the wholesale and retail industry index decreased by 0.21% over the previous year, the e-commerce industry maintained a stable growth rateof 16% and retail revenue reached 13.7 billion USD. Vietnam's e-commerce has continued to grow rapidly and strongly since the beginning of 2022, accounting for an increasingly large proportion of the domestic trade system.

Legal framework completed

According to the Vietnam E-commerce White book 2022, which has been announced by the Vietnam E-Commerce and Digital Economy Agency (IDEA) under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the size of Vietnam's e-commerce retail market was forecast to grow by 20% this year, reaching about 16.4 billion USD. Besides, it is estimated that about 57-60 million Vietnamese people participate in online shopping with the value of goods purchased online at about 260-285 USD.

The achieved result was thanks to the good use of the development trend of e-commerce and the gradual supplement and completion of a legal framework for online shopping activities. Le Thi Ha from the IDEA said since the Government’s Decree 52/2013/ND-CP on e-commerce was issued, the growth rate of e-commerce in Vietnam has witnessed a strong development with retail e-commerce revenue increasing from 2.2 billion USD in 2013 to 16.4 billion USD in 2022.

However, in the face of rapid changes in technology, as well as online business forms, the Government continued to issueDecree No.85/2021/ND-CP amending and supplementing several articles of Decree No.52/2013/ND-CP to meet new requirements on state management. This Decree has many newfeatures including the narrowing of subjects in carrying out administrative procedures and promoting the transparency of information about goods and services on the e-commerce market.

The Decree also contains many regulations to strengthen the responsibilities of traders and organisations’ trading floors.Specifically, the Decree requires that sellers on e-commerce trading floors need to provide information by regulations when they register to use the service. Especially for foreign sellers,proper names must be transliterated into Vietnamese or Latin characters. Traders must promptly take settlement measures when detecting or receiving reports on illegal business acts on the floor, as well as support state management agencies in investigating and handling law violations and settling disputes and complaints.

The Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy assessed that after Decree 85/2021/ND-CP took effect, the legal framework for e-commerce activities has been gradually perfected to meet development requirements, especially in the context that Vietnam's e-commerce has grown rapidly and strongly over recent years and accounted for an increasingly large proportion in the domestic trade system.

Anti-counterfeiting measures strengthened

The fast growth of the e-commerce market has opened up opportunities for businesses to quickly and easily reach customers. Notably, amid the impacts of the recent COVID-19 pandemic, e-commerce has acted as a "lifebuoy" to help businesses overcome difficulties to survive.

However, when the value and number of transactions increase, there are also many arising problems such as fake goods and frauds in the online environment, because buyers and sellers do not actually meet. In addition, illegal acts via e-commerce tend to increase sharply. In just two years of the COVID-19 outbreak, the General Department of Market Surveillance under the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy jointly inspected 3,000 cases and handled administrative violations in the field of e-commerce, with an amount of up to 20 billion VND.

The fraud rate via e-commerce is forecast to account for 50-60% of all forms of commercial fraud in the next 2-3 years, said Director General of the General Department for Market Surveillance Tran Huu Linh. Therefore, the prevention and combat of counterfeiting and commercial fraud in the e-commerce environment will be enhanced by the functional forces.

The General Department of Market Surveillance has also been coordinating with the Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy, to develop a project on anti-counterfeiting and consumer protection in the e-commerce environment for the 2020-2025 period, with many synchronous solutions and the participation of relevant units.

The prevention and combat of counterfeit goods in the online environment is a big “front” with many difficulties, however many businesses have not focused on protecting their brandswhile doing business in the online environment, said official Nguyen Huu Tuan from the Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy.