Launching Ceremony of the 2026 Digital Business Contest

On the afternoon of September 10, 2026, the Launching Ceremony of the 2026 Digital Business Contest officially took place. The Digital Business Contest (DBC) is an annual competition first organized in 2022 by the Vietnam E-commerce Association (VECOM) and the Vietnam E-commerce Training Institutions Network (VecomNet). This is the largest practical playground in the field of E-commerce and Digital Economy for the university student community nationwide.

E-commerce and the Digital Economy in Vietnam currently have great potential and development opportunities with many favorable factors: a dynamic young population, excellent infrastructure for digital commerce activities, a rapid increase in internet users and online consumption in recent years in both quantity and quality, and a business community actively engaged in digital transformation. Also, according to the 2026 Vietnam E-Business Index (EBI) Report by the Vietnam E-commerce Association (VECOM), in 2025, Vietnam's e-commerce scale is estimated to reach $38.5 billion, an increase of 21% compared to 2024. From a level of about $4 billion in 2015, the market size has increased nearly 10 times in a decade and is assessed by VECOM to potentially continue increasing up to about 25 times by 2030. Along with this, the development of cross-border e-commerce requires enterprise personnel to have good expertise, excellent capabilities, and high practical skills. Therefore, businesses need to focus more on recruiting and training human resources to support their e-commerce business activities.

From the above reality, Decision No. 1568/QD-BCT approving the National E-commerce Development Master Plan for the 2026-2030 period has set two key tasks in developing high-quality human resources for E-commerce & the Digital Economy: i) 60% of higher education and vocational education institutions to deploy training in majors related to e-commerce; ii) 1,000,000 turns of businesses, cooperatives, business households, individuals, state management officials, and students to participate in training courses on e-commerce application skills. The Vietnam E-commerce Training Institutions Network (VecomNet) was also established and launched in early September 2022 with the goal of promoting high-quality human resources training for E-commerce & the Digital Economy.

Among many solutions proposed to improve the quality of human resources for e-commerce, universities have proposed organizing a nationwide competition for students majoring in e-commerce, digital economy, and related fields. Through the competition, students have the opportunity to apply their academic knowledge into digital business practice, improve teamwork skills, and promote creative entrepreneurship. After 4 seasons organized by the Vietnam E-commerce Association and the Vietnam E-commerce Training Institutions Network, the contest has created a great resonance in the student and e-commerce business communities. Over 4 seasons from 2022 to 2025, DBC has continuously developed and made a mark in the student and business communities. The contest has attracted more than 1,600 participating teams and over 8,300 students from nearly 90 universities nationwide, along with the companionship of more than 40 businesses in the fields of e-commerce, digital business, and marketing.

In 2026, the contest returns and promises to have many attractive competitions among teams across 3 categories: Online Selling, Digital Marketing, and Digital Business Ideas. Recognizing the importance of eco-friendly business and social responsibility, the contest will also integrate Green E-commerce and sustainable business models into the competition categories, aiming to strongly spread the message of sustainable e-commerce development tied to environmental protection. The contest receives companionship from many organizations, businesses, individuals, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and stakeholders to encourage young intellectuals to actively seek new solutions in e-commerce.

Dr. Nguyen Thi Minh Huyen - Deputy Director General, iDEA, MOIT.

Dr. Nguyen Huu Phu - Vice Provost, Duy Tan University

Mr. Tran Van Trong - Vice President, Vietnam E-commerce Association

Up to the present time, the Contest has received the attention, support, and companionship of many major domestic and foreign organizations, enterprises, and investment funds such as: Tiktok Shop, Grab, Canva, VNNIC, SAPO, Hi1, Haravan, Lemon Digital, Accesstrade,... promising to bring a highly competitive and thrilling playground for the participating teams. With the orientation to help students closely approach the most practical activities of e-commerce and the digital economy, the Contest will create many opportunities to train participating teams in practical knowledge and hands-on business skills from industry-leading experts. The prize-winning teams will have a lot of support and good job opportunities after graduation. In particular, the universities with prize-winning teams in each category will also be a testament reflecting their top-tier training quality nationwide in the respective competition fields.

At the Event, the Organizing Committee officially announced the opening of the Contest registration and introduced the Regulations and Prize rules of the contest, while concurrently answering questions surrounding issues related to the Contest. Thus, starting from 15:10 on September 10, 2026, participating teams from all over the country can register to participate in the 2026 Digital Business Contest at the official website: https://dbc.vecomnet.vn/.

Contest Timeline:

Launching Ceremony: September 10, 2026 (Thursday)
Registration: September 10 - 28, 2026
Preliminary Round: October 01 - November 10, 2026
Qualifying Round: November 15 - 25, 2026
Semi-final Round: November 28 - December 05, 2026
Final Round & Award Gala: December 2026
Mentoring Workshops for participating teams: October - November 2026
Consulting and Support Unitour at selected universities: October - December 2026

Regarding the awards, winning teams will receive cash prizes and support services from the contest's partnering enterprises. Specifically:

Champion: 50 million VND in cash and rewards from partnering enterprises
Runner-up: 20 million VND in cash and rewards from partnering enterprises
Second Runner-up (Third Place): 10 million VND in cash and rewards from partnering enterprises
Consolation Prize: 5 million VND in cash and rewards from partnering enterprises

In the 3 specific competition categories, including i) Online Selling; ii) Digital Marketing; and iii) Digital Business Ideas, the First, Second, and Third prize-winning teams will also receive exclusive rewards from the accompanying businesses in the Contest.

The contest received immense attention from students and online audiences.

Within the framework of the Digital Business Contest Launching Ceremony, the "Digital Startup Forum" was organized with the participation of experts, entrepreneurs, and influencers across various fields. The forum focused on sharing the opportunities and challenges of the entrepreneurial journey in the digital era.

The event not only offered practical perspectives but also created conditions for students—the future leaders participating in the Contest—to be equipped with additional knowledge, motivation, and confidence to kick-start their own digital business journeys.

The 2026 Digital Business Contest has officially launched, promising thrilling competitions among the participating teams. Standing out not only in scale and quality, this year's contest also emphasizes practical application, closely linked to "hands-on" business activities and sustainable development orientations based on ESG criteria. This will be an excellent opportunity for students to access real-world knowledge, hone their skills, and simultaneously raise their awareness of social and environmental responsibilities—factors that are increasingly crucial in the journey of building future careers and enterprises.

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#DBC2026 #DBC #VecomNet #VECOM

Cuộc thi Sinh viên Kinh doanh số 2026 (DIGITAL BUSINESS CONTEST)

▶︎ Fanpage: https://www.facebook.com/VecomNet

▶︎ Website: https://dbc.vecomnet.vn/

▶︎ Email: vecomnet@vecom.vn

▶︎ BTC Cuộc thi: Ms. Thanh Huệ (0947.771.821 | huent@vecom.vn)