HCM City (VNA) – Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) inVietnam need to understand more about development trends and legal regulationsrelated to e-commerce activities, and proactively tap cross-border e-commerceopportunities brought by new generation free trade agreements (FTAs), saidinsiders.

Addressing a business matching event to support SMEs in accessing global markets viae-commerce in Ho Chi Minh City on August 10, experts said the business community, including SMEs, should seek to further improve theircompetitiveness and set higher demands in delivering shopping experiencesfor consumers rather than solely focusing on promotions.

Vice Director of VCCI in HCM City Nguyen HuuNam said FTAs that Vietnam has joined bring about diverse preferential tax opportunities across sectors, and simultaneously facilitate effective participationin the supply chain of raw materials among member countries.

However, they also present numerous challenges related to rules of origin, sanitary and phytosanitaryquarantine, technical barriers to trade, and trade and sustainable development,he noted.

The rule of origin is considereda key factor in unlocking opportunities for Vietnamese goods to make deeper inroads into the global market, but it also poses a significant barrier forbusinesses in leveraging FTA benefits, particularly in industries where Vietnamlacks strength in the supply chain of raw materials, such as textiles,electrical equipment, and bicycles, Nam said.

According to Nguyen Van Thanh, Director of the Vietnam E-commerce andDigital Economy Agency (iDEA) under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), Vietnam is witnessing a boom of e-commerce activities with high growth rates.

E-commerce has become a crucial tool forbusiness activities, helping enterprises access large markets, reduce costs, andincrease revenue, he said.

Despite these benefits, many businesses haveyet to effectively harness its potential or find sustainable development directionsfor their management, production and business operation, Thanh noted.

Heading towards responsible business practices in the e-commerce market, the businesscommunity, including SMEs, must proactively promote responsible business on e-commerceplatforms, websites, social networks, participants said.

Asustainable e-commerce ecosystem needs the involvement and collaborativedevelopment between business partners and service providers, they added./.