HCM CITY — Investment in production, trademark and innovation are key elements helping Vietnamese companies win at e-commerce export, experts shared Amazon's Ecommerce Export 2025 Summit in HCM City on Friday.

Following its successful summit in Hà Nội earlier this week, Amazon's Ecommerce Export 2025 Summit in HCM City on Friday gathered hundreds experts and representative from export companies who shared lessons learnt on how to succeed at e-commerce export activities.

The summit's discussions centred on a transformative opportunity for Vietnamese businesses to evolve beyond their traditional manufacturing strengths. 

Việt Nam is uniquely positioned to succeed in this new era, combining high-quality craftsmanship with a dynamic, young, and tech-savvy workforce driven by a strong entrepreneurial spirit. Growing global appreciation for authentic Vietnamese products – from handicrafts to specialty foods – creates new opportunities for cultural storytelling through products. 

While Việt Nam's manufacturing sector shows promising recovery – with wood exports rising 11.5 per cent in early 2025 – industry leaders at the summit acknowledged businesses face significant challenges, from rising international shipping costs to increasing global competition and stricter environmental and quality standards.

To successfully explore international markets, companies’ executives agreed that the path forward requires strategic transformation: focusing on high-value products, investing in design and innovation and leveraging these distinct advantages to build premium global brands.

"E-commerce export opens new frontiers for Vietnamese enterprises across industries," said Trương Văn Cẩm, vice chairman cum secretary general of the Vietnam Textile & Apparel Association (VITAS). 

"Success requires a systematic transformation – moving up the value chain from contract manufacturing to building global brands. This means combining manufacturing excellence with modern business strategies to fully control products, brands and customer experience in global e-commerce through channels."

DH Foods exemplifies successful execution in the Viet-Grocery category. 

Nguyễn Trung Dũng, CEO & founder of DH Foods, shared: "The global appetite for authentic flavours is immense. We combined Vietnamese spices' unique cultural story with international quality standards, focusing on deep processing to increase product value.

"Success in global markets requires deep market understanding and strong brand storytelling – that's how you create lasting value."

The summit showcased concrete initiatives to help Vietnamese businesses develop "Viet-Selections" – product categories where Việt Nam holds distinct competitive advantages. These include category-specific breakout sessions, product selection guidebooks launch and targeted training programmes. 

Among the many promising Viet-Selections that Amazon plans to activate are Viet-Furniture, leveraging Viet Nam's woodworking expertise; Viet-Grocery, showcasing unique flavours and rich agricultural heritage; and Viet-Apparel, building on established garment manufacturing excellence. — BIZHUB