Hanoi (VNA) – The Vietnam Online Business Forum (VOBF)2018, the second of its kind, opened in Hanoi on March 14 to the welcome ofinvestors following the 2017 success.

The VOBF will also come to Ho Chi Minh City on March 16.

In his opening speech, head of the Ministry of Industry andTrade’s Department of E-Commerce and Economy Dang Hoang Hai said after twodecades of the Internet’s presence in Vietnam, e-commerce has been exploding andbecome popular in the lives of businesses and people.

Statistics showed that e-commerce has grown over 20 percent,and particularly 25 percent in 2017 – among the world’s fastest.

Hai hoped that the forum, with the participation ofprestigious exerts at home and abroad, will discuss new e-commerce trends,outstanding technologies and innovative business ideas.

The E-Business Index released by the Vietnam E-CommerceAssociation (VECOM) showed that online retail and marketing, tourism andpayment saw the most impressive growth. Specifically, online retail revenueincreased by 35 percent while shipping services revenue grew from 62 percent to200 percent.

The National Payment Corporation of Vietnam reported thatonline transactions using domestic cards in 2017 rose by nearly 50 percent involume and 75 percent in value year-on-year. Several affiliated marketingcompanies posted 100-200 percent growth.

According to the VECOM, the rate of room reservations viaonline travel agents increased by over 30 percent annually from 20 percent in2016, pushing the online tourism earnings by more than 50 percent.

Dang Thuy Ha, Director of Consumer Behaviour Research at NielsenVietnam, said nearly 4 billion people worldwide are forecast to subscribe toInternet by 2020. Trends such as Big data, virtual reality technology, sharingeconomy and cashless payment will be increasingly popular. Revenue from sharingeconomy is expected to near 300 billion USD by 2025.

There are 59 million Internet subscribers in Vietnam now while91 percent of the population used smart phones, nearly 80 percent of them livein rural areas. The Vietnamese spend 25 hours per week on average on theInternet.

VECOM Chairman Nguyen Thanh Hung said Amazon will officiallyenter Vietnam this March, firstly launching a project with VECOM to supportsmall and medium-sized enterprises.

VECOM General Secretary Tran Trong Tuyen commented thatAmazon’s penetration into Vietnam will facilitate the development ofeco-system, sales solutions and logistics services, as well as bring goods toconsumers at more competitive prices.

Vietnam’s e-commerce market is forecast to see intensecompetition this year, he said.-VNA