Vietnam's e-commerce, though still in infancy, has been thriving in recent years with three bright spots twinkling in 2006, a local trade official said in Hanoi Wednesday.

The three prominent features included "the fair popularity of the country's e-commerce, the rapid development of business-to- business (B2B) transactions, and the strong provision of online public services," Nguyen Thanh Hung, director of the E-Commerce Department under the Trade Ministry, said at the two-day Vietnam e- Business Forum starting on Wednesday.

Besides publicizing business opportunities, B2B e-marketplaces offered new assistance tools such as online auctions and tenders, e-news bulletins, and information search. E-marketplace developers had clearer business strategies and stronger investment in both technology and business, including software, server, network, manpower, promotion and consultation, he said.

By the end of 2006, Vietnam housed some 30 B2B e-marketplaces, most of which handle various products and services, not specializing in trading single goods or groups of products or services. It also had some 80 business-to-consumer (B2C) e- marketplaces, and a number of consumer-to-consumer (C2C) ones.

More modes of business based on electronic means, especially the provision of digital contents appeared in 2006, Hung said, noting that revenues of such services as online training, advertising, movies, music, interactive games, shopping and information search increased considerably against 2005.

"By December 2006, all ministries and sectors, and 52 out of 64 localities nationwide had websites, some of which already offered online public services, which allowed access to business information, download of application forms, extension of permits, business registration and tax payment, among others." However, government-to-business (G2B) transactions via online public services were still limited, he noted.

Under Vietnam's Overall Plan on Developing E-commerce in the 2006-2010 approved by the government in 2005, by 2010, some 60 percent of large firms will conduct B2B e-commerce, 80 percent of small and medium enterprises either B2B or B2C, and about 10 percent of households either B2C or C2C. By the year, tenders of the government and its purchases will be conducted via electronic means.

At the two-day forum, organized by the department and the International Data Group, Vietnamese and foreign delegates, mainly government officials, experts and business people are to focus their e-commerce discussions on legal framework and security, solutions to small and medium enterprises, and online business models.

Source: Xinhua