Vietnam moves up in e-commerce readiness

With a score of 61.6 points on a scale of 100, Vietnam did much better than Indonesia (83rd), the Philippines (96th), Laos (101st), Cambodia (117th) and Myanmar (130th), according to the B2C (business-to-consumer) E-commerce Index report released this week by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

The ranking measured 152 economies around the world on their readiness to engage in online commerce based on four indicators with a high correlation to online shopping: internet server access; postal service reliability; share of population who use the internet; and share of population aged above 15 who have an account with a financial institution or mobile-money-service provider.

According to the report, nearly 70 percent of Vietnamese people use the internet and 31 percent of individuals aged 15 and above have bank accounts or mobile bank accounts.

In terms of internet server access and postal reliability, Vietnam scored 64 and 83 percent respectively.

The report also showed online shoppers in Vietnam account for 36 percent of internet users and 18.7 percent of the 96-million population.

Switzerland was on top of the index, followed by the Netherlands and Denmark.

"The Covid-19 pandemic has made it more urgent to ensure countries trailing behind are able to catch up and strengthen their e-trade readiness," said Shamika Sirimanne, director of UNCTAD’s technology and logistics division, adding that the index underscores the need for governments to do more to ensure more people can avail of e-commerce opportunities.

"Otherwise, their businesses and people will miss out on the opportunities offered by the digital economy, and they will be less prepared to deal with various challenges," she said.

According to an e-commerce development plan approved by the Vietnamese government last year, the sector’s revenues should reach $35 billion by 2025 and account for 10 percent of the total. The government also targets 55 percent of the population shopping online by 2025.

Vietnam’s e-commerce market expanded by 18 percent last year to $11.8 billion, the only country in Southeast Asia to record double-digit growth in the sector amid the Covid-19 pandemic.