Searches for Vietnamese goods surge on Alibaba

"I am optimistic about Vietnam’s cross-border sales growth," said country director of Alibaba Vietnam Mike Zhang, adding that the number of Vietnamese products for sale on China’s most popular business-to-business platform surged 24% in the period.

The company did not reveal specific figures.

There are now thousands of Vietnamese businesses on Alibaba, most of them small-sized and medium-sized, Zhang said.

Some companies have been active for years, such as furniture maker Nghia Son, electronics maker Lioa, and food producer Rita.

Vietnamese suppliers are most active in the food and beverage, household and garden, beauty and agriculture categories on Alibaba, which has been called Asia’s Amazon.

Many Vietnamese suppliers have profited on Alibaba, according the global online marketplace.

Textile company TT Garment makes 80% of its revenue on the platform, with buyers mostly from the U.S., Canada and Australia.

TT Garment CEO Nguyen Van Thong said that since the beginning of the year his company’s revenue has surged 300% year-on-year.

The company’s average orders range $25,000-30,000.

"This year we’ve seen growth on the U.S. and Thailand markets. We are negotiating to export a container of hats to the U.S."

Hanh Sanh, an electric fan manufacturer in Ho Chi Minh City, reported that the number of Alibaba inquiries the company has received so far this year surged 30% year-on-year.

Roger Luo, Alibaba’s Southeast Asia director, said that Vietnam has major potential in its manufacturing capacity and its ability to ship products to global buyers.

Seeing substantial growth in Vietnam, Alibaba launched its Trade Assurance protection service in September to increase trust between suppliers and buyers.

Alibaba’s business-to-business platform was launched in 1999. It has 47 million buyers comprised of businesses from 190 economies.