Hanoi (VNA) – Cross-border e-commerce haschanged the way firms are doing business, with micro, small and medium sizedenterprises (MSMEs) given more equal opportunities to access global market,said Vu Tien Loc, Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry(VCCI).

As the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis has forced manycountries around the world to close borders and restrict travels, thousands of in-personbusiness meetings, conferences and trade exhibitions between Vietnam and its majortrade partners, such as China, the Republic of Korea, the EU and US, have beencancelled and delayed.

To tackle such challenges, the Ministry of Industry andTrade (MoIT) has cooperated with other ministries, local administrations andoverseas trade offices to make use of digital platforms to promote tradeand boost exports, according to Deputy Minister Do Thang Hai.

More than 1 million online trading sessions have been organizedand hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese companies have engaged in virtual tradepromotion events with potential partners from 55 countries and territories,including many new markets in Africa, Hai said.

Through these events, growers of seasonal farm produce inBac Giang, Hung Yen, Son La, Ca Mau, Dak Lak, Soc Trang and others have alsoreceived support to trade their products on multiple popular online marketplaceslike Sendo, Shopee, and Voso.vn. It has not only helped farmers seek buyers butalso attracted more investment into agricultural production and processing.

Thanks to such efforts, Vietnamese agricultural productshave gained access to more major markets, said To Hoai Nam, Standing ViceChairman and General-Secretary of the Vietnam Association of Small and MediumEnterprises (VINASME).

“Thieu” lychee had cracked open the door to France,Japan and the Netherlands while Hung Yen’s longan had found its way to the EU,he cited, adding that plum and dragon fruits are getting similar support to goglobal.

Since early 2021, a number of both in-person and virtual conferencesto boost sales of “thieu” lychee have been held, connecting growers withdomestic and foreign traders, said Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen HongDien. These have proved effective as the lychee has expanded its footholdin demanding markets such as Japan and the EU. Exports of the fruit reachedover 89,000 tonnes this year, accounting for 41.4 percent of total sales.

The MoIT is making all necessary legal steps to exportmore Vietnamese agricultural specialties via cross-border e-commerce, with ahope that farmers can directly supply their products to foreign end-users, Dienrevealed.

Vu Ba Phu, Director of the MoIT’s Vietnam Trade PromotionAgency (Vietrade), said his agency is developing a trade promotion ecosystemmobile app to help Vietnamese firms improve the effectiveness of theirpromotion activities.

It will also pilot a project providing support forVietnamese producers to remotely join foreign trade expos and work withrenowned global e-commerce platforms like Amazon, Alibaba and Global Sources to helpthe firms cut export promotional costs and introduce their products to globalimporters and customers, Phu noted./.