This was stated by Lai Viet Anh, deputy director of Vietnam E-commerce and Information Technology Agency (Vecita) at a meeting in Ha Noi yesterday.

The world’s leading e-commerce group Alibaba together with OSB, JSC, and Alibaba Group’s Authorised Reseller in Vietnam organised a meeting to discuss the effectiveness of online export supporting tools and solutions to boost business efficiency for enterprises especially small- and medium-sized enterprises.

A survey by Vecita on more than 800 export firms showed that up to 73 per cent of enterprises said that application of e-commerce in exports is “effective” and “very effective”, while the dispute rate is low (only eight per cent).

However, according to Anh, only eight per cent of the enterprises signed contracts on the e-commerce trading floors, while three per cent signed via enterprises or partner websites.

Up to 74 per cent of them met directly for signing contracts while 65 per cent did so through email and post, the survey shows.

Le Thi Thanh Hang, director of Elmaco Import and Export Co., Ltd, said e-commerce would open new export markets, since the budget for the activities is not high.

After five years of using online exports, the enterprise has invested time and efforts in uploading product information, images, certificates and payment and customer feedback.

Hang also asked management agencies and e-commerce websites to tighten management on information and quality so that enterprises could feel secure when making transactions.

Speaking on how to create an impression with partners, Tran Xuân Thuy, country manager of Alibaba to Vietnam, said that exporters needed to have certificates on quality and safety to create confidence among buyers.

Product information should be uploaded with details about price, payment and package, so that partners could find the necessary information on products easily, he added.

Vietnamese enterprises have not grasped the success in online exports because of the low effectiveness when using e-commerce and undetailed product information, Thuy added.

According to the experts at the workshop, Vietnamese exports are expected to grow faster this year as some important free trade agreements between Vietnam and European Union, and Vietnam and Korea will take effect.

However, certain difficulties have emerged, such as a decrease in exports by 15 per cent in the first one month and a half of this year compared to the same period last year.

The decreasing exports are also a reason for export firms to shift from the traditional business environment to online environment in order to optimise trade, according to experts.

Vietnam has a population of 91.3 million, of these, 45 per cent are using Internet and market scale of e-commerce is up to US$4.07 billion, according to Vecita.