Alibaba.com gives wing to Vietnamese SMEs to go global

Alibaba.com's ‘Go Export’ forum filled the house with Vietnamese SMEs looking to thrive in the digital age

This was stressed at an SME-focused event organised by Alibaba.com at GEM Center, Ho Chi Minh City yesterday, which attracted the participation of more than 400 SMEs from across Vietnam’s key business sectors and associations.

The event aims to mark 10 years’ of Alibaba.com’s presence in Vietnam and celebrate the success of local SMEs on its platform. The event also highlighted the need for digital transformation in export, valuable insights from global buyers, and the potential of Alibaba.com in enabling Vietnamese SMEs to expand their business to international markets.

Zhang Kuo, general manager of Alibaba.com, said, “Given the country’s growing economic status in Southeast Asia, Vietnamese SMEs have strong manufacturing capabilities with more than 500,000 entrepreneurs. Yet very few of them have established global trading with the use of digital channels. There are many categories in which Vietnam holds great advantages in terms of skilled workforce, high-quality products, and competitive pricing. Therefore, we at Alibaba.com believe that the country is poised for even more significant growth in exports, making Vietnam a focus for the B2B business. We are looking forward to supporting Vietnamese SMEs to reach out to global markets with the help of the platform, transforming their business digitally, and increasing more job opportunities for the local workforce.”

Taking the US market as an example, which is the top buyer market for the business, John Caplan, head of North America B2B, Alibaba Group, shared that, “Alibaba.com offers Vietnamese sellers access to an enormous pool of qualified global buyers. Today, Vietnam is a high-priority market for many American companies looking to source quality goods at competitive prices. US businesses want products that Vietnamese companies sell and Alibaba.com’s US-based team is aggressively working to raise awareness of supply from Vietnam on the Alibaba.com platform. This will drive more high-quality buyers to our platform and that in turn creates big opportunities for Vietnamese sellers."

Today, Alibaba.com is one of the world’s largest global B2B e-commerce marketplaces operating in over 190 countries. The core proposition of Alibaba.com revolves around onboarding SMEs onto the platform for them to gain visibility among global buyers; empowering them with knowledge of e-commerce; building an ecosystem to support these merchants and offering them digital tools for selling and thriving in the global market. To enable SMEs in Vietnam, Alibaba.com has created a robust channel network by partnering with five local players who not only promote the platform to local exporters but also provide ongoing support to help them make the most of their online presence.

Among many success stories from local SMEs that transformed their businesses with Alibaba.com, two were present at the forum. Tran Bao Ngoc, owner of M.i.i.n Eyelash, inspired the crowd with the story of how she saved her business from the brink of closing within two weeks of enrolling on the platform and is now receiving consistent large orders every month from markets like the US and Russia. Meanwhile, Vu Trung Son, director of Vietnam Agarwood Centre, shared how he found Alibaba.com and has since exported to markets including the Middle East. Today, his company proudly supplies agarwood to over 40 countries in the world.

Vietnam remains one of the fastest-growing economies in Southeast Asia and continues to rank high for ease of doing business. The power of e-commerce from Alibaba.com enables them to reach out to buyers in more than 190 countries all over the world. With support from the platform, local entrepreneurs can access grand opportunities for digital economy and globalisation.

Alibaba.com provides support for SMEs to digitise their business and gain better access to internet-savvy and mobile consumers around the world

Over 400 SMEs from across Vietnam’s key business sectors and associations gathered at the forum to explore business opportunities at Alibaba.com