HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam remained among the top ten countries with the fastest e-commerce growth rate in the world in 2024, with the market valued at US$25 billion, an increase of 20 per cent over 2023, according to Việt Nam E-commerce and Digital Economy Agency.

E-commerce is expanding at a rate nearly three times higher than traditional trade and contributed about 20 per cent to the total retail sales of goods and services globally. Southeast Asia is the region with the most dynamic e-commerce market in the world.

In Việt Nam, e-commerce accounted for nine per cent of the total retail sales of goods and services and two-thirds of the digital economy, statistics showed.

With two-digit growth, Việt Nam’s e-commerce market is among the top countries with the fastest expansion rates in the world, creating momentum for the digital economy and digital transition, according to the agency.

Notably, e-commerce is not only an opportunity for enterprises to boost revenue, but also a platform for Vietnamese firms to penetrate deeply into the global supply chains.

Statistics of Access Partnership, an international research organisation specialising in e-commerce, showed that Việt Nam’s business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce export value is estimated to reach VNĐ145.2 trillion ($5.8 billion) by 2028, with micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) projected to contribute 25 per cent, from VNĐ86 trillion in 2023.

The agency also pointed out challenges in e-commerce market management.

Specifically, there are still difficulties in managing cross-border e-commerce services. Several foreign e-commerce platforms sold into Việt Nam without completing registration or simply dumping cheap products in, which could heavily impact the domestic market and increase price competition pressure.

In addition, the legal framework to manage livestreaming, which is booming, remains incomplete, together with the rampancy of fake, counterfeit and low-quality products, requiring more efficient management measures.

To promote sustainable development of the e-commerce market, Lê Hoàng Anh, the agency’s director, said that the focus would be on improving the regulations on e-commerce and enhancing management on cross-border commerce to ensure transparency and compliance.

It was also necessary to promote the development of sustainable and green e-commerce to reduce its impact on the environment, she said. The application of artificial intelligence (AI) in e-commerce management would also be strengthened.

According to economist Võ Trí Thành, while e-commerce is creating more equitable development and reducing income gaps, traditional trading is at risk of being sidelined.

Policy-makers must ensure that no one is left behind. Dispute resolution, consumer protection as well as the promotion of innovation and new business models should also be taken into account for sustainable e-commerce development, he said.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade will study and propose the development of a law on e-commerce in 2025 to create a consistent and synchronous legal framework for a market which can be both successful and sustainable. — VNS