“Electronic commerce (e-commerce) is the particular business method based on information technology. Therefore the state should have appropriate management” recommended by Mr Tran Huu Linh, Director of the Department for E-commerce and Information Technology, Ministry of Industry and Trade, at the conference “Promoting state management in e-commerce”, jointly held by the Department for E-commerce and Information Technology and the European Trade Policy and Investment Support Project (EU – MUTRAP).
Mr Linh said that for the last 3 years, laws and policies for e-commerce have been focused on, accordingly e-commerce has gradually become the business method closely associating with businesses. Particularly in 2013, many legal documents were issued to create a healthy legal framework for the development of e-commerce such as Decree 52/2013/ND-CP on e-commerce; Decree 185/ND – CP prescribing administrative sanctions in the field of trade and production of counterfeit and prohibited goods to protect the rights of consumers; Circular 12/2013/TT – BCT prescribing procedures for registration and disclosure of information related to e-commerce websites, etc. However, the current management of e-commerce websites is still very loose and lack of human resource and coordination of specialized agencies. Meanwhile, although the number of companies making e-commerce websites in the country is quite large, the majority of them have yet to be acutely aware of and give proper care to providing complete information on their websites, not satisfying the need for information of consumers. In particular, so far some businesses are still afraid to inform and register their e-commerce websites to the Ministry of Industry and Trade. It is the loose management mode and the hesitation of businesses that has made prohibited and counterfeit goods with unknown origin rampant on e-commerce websites, which challenges the control and sanction of competent authorities. Even arisen issues such as tax, safety security, personal information protection, check and sanctions have also caused many obstacles to the enforcement agencies. This situation has caused deep concern for the state management agencies as well as companies operating in the field of e-commerce.
According to the statistics of the Department for E-commerce and Information Technology, Vietnam currently has nearly 500,000 active enterprises including more than 200,000 with their own websites. However, only about 40-45 percent of those businesses have e-commerce websites. However, only 4,800 e-commerce websites are following the right procedures on registration. In particular, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi account for the highest proportion.
Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Trade of Ho Chi Minh City Tran Vinh Nhung said that in Ho Chi Minh City, there are currently over 144,000 website domains, in which over 85,995 are active and nearly 80,000 need to be inspected and tested under Decree 52. However, only 2 percent of e-commerce websites in Ho Chi Minh City has been registered. The problem of unregistered e-commerce websites is rampant; thus to manage those websites, it is essential to have a mechanism for coordination between the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Information and Communications.
Mr Linh recommended: “E-commerce is a specific business method based on information technology, thus it requires appropriate management method. Management stereotypes of traditional paper and administration forms will not be effective.” According to Mr Nhung, there should be a joint circular issued by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Information and Communications to quickly solve the problems in the process of implementing e-commerce management policies. The participants also said that the management of e-commerce websites requires coordination between information management and industry and trade agencies. Especially under the context of free operation of e-commerce websites in today’s internet environment, the state agency should have clear sanctions for effective management and control.
For its part, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, in the 2014 – 2015 period, will focus on amending Circular 12/2013/TT – BCT which stipulates the responsibilities of all e-commerce website and social network administrators for the posted information. At the same time, the Ministry will enhance specialised inspection activities, in parallel with building and improving e-commerce infrastructure including e-commerce national payment system, logistics, integrated e-commerce payment card, online network, etc. to create environment and legal framework for e-commerce activities. Particularly, the Ministry will focus on implementing Decision 689/QD – TTg approving the national e-commerce development programme in 2014 – 2020 period, which was issued by the Prime Minister on 11th May 2014. This decision is an important document to help build basic infrastructure for e-commerce, making it a popular activity contributing to improving the competitiveness of enterprises.
Thanh Thao
Đăng ký: VietNam News