The 2026 nationwide conference bringing e-commerce to communes took place in Hanoi on November 11.

Khanh Hoa province is pushing e-commerce, bringing OCOP products to digital platforms. (Photo: VNA)

Co-hosted by the Industry and Trade newspaper, the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Vietnam E-Commerce and Digital Economy Agency (iDEA), TikTok Shop and relevant units, the hybrid event linked with departments of industry and trade, and communal and ward authorities across 34 cities and provinces.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Viet Son described e-commerce as a new growth engine as the 14th National Party Congress targets average growth of at least 10% in 2026-2030, and the digital economy is meant to contribute about 30% of GDP by 2030.

The policy backdrop is broad. The Politburo's Resolution 57-NQ/TW on science, technology, innovation and national digital transformation and Resolution 68-NQ/TW on the private economy development, along with the Government's Resolution 01/NQ-CP that sets tasks for 2026, give e-commerce a stronger foundation.

For the industry and trade sector, the goal is not just scale but a modern reorganisation of production, trade, distribution and consumption.

The national e-commerce development plan for 2026-2030, approved on June 3, 2025, sets hard targets: 60% of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) on e-commerce platforms; 60% of communes, wards and equivalent units with online traders; one million training turns for enterprises, cooperatives, business households, individuals, officials and students; and 50% of national B2C e-commerce transactions outside Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

The legal corridor is tightening. The Law on E-Commerce 122/2025/QH15 and Decree 248/2026/ND-CP took effect on July 1, 2026.

The Prime Minister’s Decision 51/2025/QD-TTg adds effective e-commerce criteria to national new-style rural commune standards.

For the first time, commune-level authorities are accountable for measuring and evaluating local e-commerce activity.

The market is already large and growing fast. Vietnam’s e-commerce market neared 31 billion USD in 2025, up 25.5%, or about 11% of total retail sales and consumer service revenue.

In the first 10 months of 2026, retail sales and consumer service revenue hit 6.6 quadrillion VND (257.16 billion USD), up 13.5%, supporting the Government’s 13-15% growth target.

But the growth is urban-heavy. The Vietnam E-Commerce Association data show a 70-30 split between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City on one side and other localities on the other.

The 2026 e-commerce index puts Ho Chi Minh City at 91.1 points and Hanoi at 87.5, versus a national average of just 15.8.

Son said commune-level e-commerce must be seamless: production linked to distribution, digital platforms, payments and logistics, with better state management, consumer protection and a transparent, safe business environment.

Localities should tap regional product advantages, open rural, mountainous and border markets, train digital and online business skills and connect with platforms and service providers.

According to him, the iDEA should guide localities on policy, data and measurement; departments of industry and trade should build growth scenarios; communes should name a focal point, establish baseline data and pick advantageous products.

Locals, cooperatives and business households need support to sell independently, create content, reach customers and process orders.

Nguyen Thi Minh Huyen, iDEA Deputy Director, said Dong Thap put about 1,000 OCOP products on e-commerce platforms, drew nearly 5 million views in three days and sold 3.5 tonnes of pineapple in 90 minutes online.

Nearly 20 departments of industry and trade have signed cooperation deals with digital technology, e-commerce and financial entities.

More than 40 training courses have reached nearly 1,000 sellers, and nearly 100 livestreams involving the iDEA have generated more than 8,500 orders. The push is moving sellers beyond simply listing products.

Tran Thi Tan, Director of Corporate Social Responsibility and Strategic Partnerships at TikTok Shop, said TikTok Shop’s discovery-commerce model combines video and livestreaming to create demand from product and local stories.

Over the past three years, it has run “OCOP Market Fair 2024,” “Proud of Vietnamese Goods 2025” and “Vietnamese Goods Rising 2026”. More than 35,000 sellers in 34 cities and provinces have been trained, over 230,000 Vietnamese products have been labeled, and average sales for Vietnamese sellers are up 30.5%.

For 2027, TikTok Shop wants at least one exemplary e-commerce commune in every locality and plans to expand in Lai Chau’s Than Uyen and Hanoi’s Bat Trang and Thu Lam.

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Products made by Vietnamese small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and cooperatives, including those certified under the One Commune, One Product (OCOP) programme, are emerging as popular online offerings.

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TikTok aims to promote 'e-commerce commune' model in Vietnam

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