On the morning of March 13, 2024, the Vietnam E-commerce Association welcomed a delegation from Google in an important strategic cooperation meeting. The meeting aimed to boost and support online exports in Vietnam. Both sides discussed specific measures and the potential for enhancing cooperation in e-commerce to expand business opportunities and create long-term benefits for both Vietnam and Google.
During the cooperation meeting, representatives from both sides included:
Representatives from Google:
1. Ms. Sharon Lee: SEA Customer Solutions Executive Director.
2. Mr. James Lange: Head of Business for Small Businesses in Southeast Asia and South Asia.
3. Mr. Phung Tan Hai Long: SEA Business Growth Manager.
4. Mr. Dennis Laurentius: International Growth Advisor, Google Customer Solutions - SEA.
5. Mr. Brandon Thanh Do: Customer Acquisition and Recruitment Specialist, Google Customer Solutions.
Representatives from the Vietnam E-commerce Association (VECOM):
1. Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Dung: Chairman of the Vietnam E-commerce Association.
2. Mr. Nguyen Tan Phong: Executive Committee Member.
3. Mr. Huynh Lam Ho: Executive Committee Member.
4. Ms. Trinh Ai Khoa: Deputy Chief of Staff.
At the meeting, VECOM noted that the trend of online exports is growing rapidly. Vietnam is considered a potential export market with diverse and abundant supply sources, meanwhile many objective statistics show that the growth rate of online exports is increasing, especially the B2C model. Therefore, VECOM has identified promoting online export activities as a long-term direction in the near future of the Association.
Both parties also agreed that the current situation is that sellers/businesses do not have the fundamental knowledge, the processes of how to export goods at each stage. In addition, there is no specialized unit/business to train and support these entities.
The scene of the exchange between the two sides
Google representative shared their expectations for promoting online exports in Vietnam. In 2024, for the first time, Google will engage in personalized training and support in a 1:1 format instead of general training. Google has a team of experts ready to provide hands-on support and guidance to businesses for six months while also seeking and selecting industry-leading businesses that are most prepared. Google hopes to collaborate with VECOM to streamline the selection process, and Google's expert team will evaluate the most promising candidates. Google aims to work with VECOM and Haravan to identify businesses that meet the criteria mentioned above to begin providing in-depth consultancy and help businesses achieve sustainable growth. They will then communicate successful case studies to persuade businesses about the effectiveness of Google's support tools as well as Haravan's.
VECOM highly appreciates Google's desires and proposes:
- For policy consulting activities:
- Google can provide input and advice to VECOM in developing policies related to online exports.
- Format: sharing experiences from other countries is possible.
- For the VESA Alliance:
- Participate in a suitable form within the Alliance: as a member of the alliance or as an expert in the Alliance's advisory board.
- Support businesses seeking information on online export activities.
- For the Foreign Trade Forum:
- Large events are necessary to influence government agencies, thereby garnering support and policy direction from the government to support the export sector.
- Through significant activities, there is an opportunity to enhance business awareness, thereby selecting businesses interested and ready for in-depth support.
- Suggest that Google can participate in sharing at the Forum.
- Specialized business training activities:
- Specifically select high-preparedness businesses in each sector/industry and region for support.
- Google participates in training and advising businesses, with potential businesses receiving 1-1 support for maximum effectiveness.
- Support businesses in using market information search tools - Market Finder for online exports.
After the meeting, both parties agreed on the following cooperation:
1. VECOM will organize a meeting with direct representatives from Amazon, Alibaba, and related parties facing operational challenges, such as difficulty in selling products, lack of advertising resources, financial and economic difficulties. In this meeting, VECOM will provide support and solutions to help these parties overcome these challenges. Additionally, Google can organize workshops with VECOM's support to share knowledge and experience in this field.
2. The VOBF 2024 (Vietnam Online Business Forum) event will focus on the theme of online exports. In the case of activities related to this theme, VECOM will invite Google to participate and contribute opinions, knowledge, and experience. This will create an opportunity for both parties to continue collaborating and sharing information, thereby promoting the development of online exports in Vietnam.
Through these agreements, the Vietnam E-commerce Association (VECOM) and Google have established a solid foundation for cooperation and achieving the common goal of promoting online exports in Vietnam.
