The Ministry of Industry (MoIT) is enhancing digital training support for farmers and small vendors, in response to the seemingly permanent shift towards online retail trading, caused by the pandemic.

Supported by cooperation with leading international e-commerce enterprises, the plan was announced at the "International Conference on Promoting IT Application and Digital Transformation in Viet Nam" in Ha Noi yesterday.

The two-day conference, held both in-person and online, was attended by more than 1,400 delegates, including Vietnamese and foreign IT enterprises, technology-related companies and associated domestic and foreign business associations.

Deputy Director of the Department, Hoang Van Chien, told the conference: “IT application and digital transformation in trade promotion are strategic activities.”

Chien said they had become more effective than traditional trade promotion activities such as fairs, seminars and conferences. These activities ceased almost entirely during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The department said it had since used digital technology for most of the promotion activities.

MoIT had also worked with domestic and foreign IT providers to assist businesses in finding digital solutions to business constraints. So far, training sessions on e-commerce, IT applications and digital transformation had been given to businesses in Ha Noi, Can Tho, HCM City, Hai Phong, Hai Duong, Quang Ninh, lao Cai, Soc Trang, Dong Thap and other areas.

The department had coordinated with Alibaba.com and Amazon.com to hold more than 20 events and six events, respectively. A series of events to help businesses and cooperatives in the provinces of Hai Duong, Son La, Bac Can, Hung Yen, Binh Thuan put agricultural and aquatic products on local e-commerce platforms such as Postmart, Voso, Lazada, Shopee, Tiki, Sendo, Foodmap.

Bui Cao Hoc, Director of Viet Nam Customer Management Software Company, said his company aimed to support local businesses step by step through their digital transformation, providing solutions to new marketing strategies.

Online shopping became more popular during the pandemic, and now e-commerce is vital to the continued existence of many businesses.

Ly Kim Chi, head of HCM City Food Association, said: “Enterprises have clearly seen the inevitable benefits related to business survival, which is the priority of changing marketing methods, customer interaction, and distribution through e-commerce."

Food and beverage businesses are focused on developing comprehensive strategies related to governance, product strategy, and technology application.

Chi said: "The development of e-commerce will be the key to success for the development of Viet Nam's food and beverage industry. It will be an irreversible trend due to the unstopped change of technology, customer demand and market trends.”

According to Chien, the department is coordinating with Viet Nam Post Corporation (Vnpost) and Viettel Post Corporation to deploy training sessions for cooperatives and economic households in Hoa Binh, Yen Bai, Bac Kan, Son La, Lai Chau and Ha Giang. It hopes to give farmers online sales skills like live streaming on different social networks, to better sell their products.

Chien said: “We will focus on awareness-raising and capacity building activities for trade promotion organisations, small and medium enterprises, cooperatives and business households in the field of digital technology application as well as market promotion.

"At the same time, we will work with technology partners to focus on building a digital trade promotion ecosystem, to effectively support organisations and businesses in the digital environment."

Chien said the department was building a plan for IT application and digital transformation in trade promotion for the period 2021-2025, to guide localities and businesses in implementing their work methodically and synchronously to save costs and fees.— VNS