Vietnam is on the cusp of an online export revolution, buoyed by supportive government policies and abundant production capacity, according to industry experts.

The Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) on the four largest platforms, Shopee, TikTok Shop, Lazada and Tiki, reached VNĐ87.37 trillion (US$3.6 billion) in the second quarter of this year.

Vietnamese SMEs' (small and medium enterprises) online exports have been increasing, and are expected to help raise Vietnam’s cross-border e-commerce value to $10 billion by 2026.

Vietnam, along with Thailand, are the two fastest growing e-commerce markets in Southeast Asia, according to the recently released report '2024 E-commerce in Southeast Asia' by Momentum Works.

The Government, ministries, sectors, localities, and the business community have concentrated on speeding up cross-border e-commerce development in the context that exports serve as a significant growth driver of the national economy.

Livestreaming is being scrutinised to discover the best methods of increasing tax management to ensure fairness and transparency in the online retail market.

The market size of Vietnamese e-commerce hit US$20.5 billion last year, marking an increase of about US$4 billion compared to 2022, and the industry is likely to achieve the US$35 billion revenue target ahead in 2025.

As many as 96 foreign suppliers, including Facebook, Google and TikTok, have registered their business and paid tax on their e-commerce profits via the Ministry of Finance’s (MOF) electronic information portal, totaling VND15.6 trillion.

At yesterday’s questioning session, Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung said that the Ministry will study to build e-commerce platform for Vietnam.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade will focus on enhancing consumer protection in order to maintain sustainable e-commerce development, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien said at the National Assembly’s question and answer session on June 4.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade is looking into regulations to better manage e-commerce business and protect the rights of consumers, including a requirement on authentication of individual sellers.

The products that men bought the most on e-commerce platforms included tech products and household appliances.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) revealed that there were 764 violations in e-commerce with a total fine of VND12 billion (US$ 471,601) in 2023.

Deputy Minister of Finance Nguyen Duc Chi said that sellers who make livestreams on online marketplace must pay tax.

Digital platforms have played a key role in helping Vietnamese firms take their high-quality products to the world, insiders have said.

The number of products Vietnamese businesses sell via Amazon has increased by 300% over the past five years, heard a conference on cross-border e-commerce (CBEC) in Hanoi on May 22.

Most surveillance cameras displayed at retail chains and on e-commerce platforms are from China. It is difficult to find Vietnamese-made security cameras in the market.

Great efforts have been made to combat counterfeit goods on e-commerce channels amid booming e-commerce activities.

Training human resources in e-commerce is among focuses in plans on e-commerce development for 2024 of many localities, according to the Vietnam E-commerce and Digital Economic Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).

The vast majority of those are being imported through e-commerce platforms, including some of the largest in the country such as Shopee, Lazada and TikTok, with combined value reaching billions of dollars monthly.