HCM CITY (Biz Hub)— Business-to-business e-commerce websites are becoming popular with Vietnamese exporters as they seek to beat the worst effects of the economic meltdown.

A report by the Ministry of Industry and Trade's e-Commerce Department following a survey on e-commerce said 12 per cent of responding companies had dabbled in e-commerce through websites like www.Alibaba.com, with 80 per cent liking the outcome.

Than Van Hung, general director of Visimex Joint Stock Company, told Thoi Bao Kinh Te Viet Nam (Viet Nam Economic Times) that his company had few customers before signing up with www.Alibaba.com.

After that they began to get four or five e-mail inquiries every day about their products, and the number surged to 25-30 after becoming a "Gold Supplier" on the site, he said.

Half of them were serious customers, with 10-15 per cent already signing deals with the company.

Another survey, this one by OSB Investment and Technology Joint Stock company and quoted by the Viet Nam Economic Times, found that firms were five times more likely to succeed by using e-commerce.

Besides, 65 per cent of such enterprises were confident of overcoming the economic slump compared to only 10 per cent of those not using e-commerce.

Even large companies have begun to use b2b wesbites thanks to the low cost and convenience.

But analysts said companies should also retain their traditional business methods. They still have to take part in exhibitions within and outside the country and trade promotion programmes, they said.

But since b2b websites offered the same ease of doing business to rival firms too, competition was intense and companies had to work hard, the analysts said.

Online demand for Vietnamese products would increase in future, so domestic companies had to prepare carefully to achieve success, they added. —VNS