Consumers throughout Vietnam and other countries in Southeast Asia will be given the chance to shop on the digital platforms of participating businesses, as well as major domestic and foreign e-commerce platforms, with numerous discounts on goods and services.

ASEAN Online Sale Day is held annually in order to promote the cross-border e-commerce market in ASEAN amid the current context that countries are increasingly participating in Free Trade Agreements (FTAs).

At a seminar held on June 21 in Ho Chi Minh City in the lead-up to ASEAN Online Sale Day 2023, experts affirmed that e-commerce is the driving force for businesses, especially micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), in accessing international markets.

Jason Bay, a representative of Shopee – the largest e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia, pointed out that building cross-border e-commerce platforms is a long-term tool used to support small and medium-sized enterprises as they seek to expand their export markets at an optimal cost.

According to the report issued by Statista, the bloc is forecast to achieve a compound annual growth rate of 11.43% over the next five years, equivalent to developed countries in the world such as the United States, China, and Canada.

The revenue of regional e-commerce by the end of this year is predicted to reach US$113.90 billion before climbing to US$175 billion by the end of 2027. In particular, electronics and food make up the most preferred products by consumers in ASEAN.

Given this optimistic outlook, ASEAN is on track to become a US$1 trillion Internet economy by 2030.

However, Nguyen Anh Duong, an official of the Central Institute for Economic Management, said that cross-border e-commerce requires mutual recognition of standards and a general quality standards of goods.

In order to effectively engage in the cross-border shopping programme, businesses should actively improve their capacity and technology as a way of complying with international regulations, he suggested.

Source: VOV