Vietnamese Products Target US, China Markets Via Cross-Border E-commerce Initiative

On September 3 in Ho Chi Minh City, the Vietnam E-Commerce and Digital Economy Agency (iDEA) under the Ministry of Industry and Trade partnered with TikTok Shop to officially launch the “Beyond Vietnam” initiative. This program aims to drive Vietnamese products deep into billion-consumer markets via discovery e-commerce. Vietnamese Goods Take the Initiative to Get Discovered Traditional exports and conventional search-based e-commerce previously ran up against an invisible barrier: low brand recognition. International shoppers only type keywords into a search bar if they already know a brand—a chronic weak spot for most Vietnamese small and medium enterprises (SMEs) due to tight marketing budgets. However, the rapid rise of discovery e-commerce is upending the playing field. Instead of relying solely on supermarket shelf space or static search directories, products can now reach prospective buyers through short-form video, livestreams, and native content creators. Under this model, an instant pho pack, a jar of artisanal spices, or a handcrafted item can be taste-tested or demonstrated live. Creators can share authentic stories about product origins and flavors, leading viewers straight to a purchase decision in just a few taps. Le Hoang Oanh, Director General of iDEA, noted that the headroom for domestic enterprises to leverage cross-border e-commerce remains vast. “Through discovery commerce, businesses can proactively generate consumer demand, tell compelling brand stories, and tap into entirely new customer cohorts through engaging content,” Oanh emphasized. Le Hoang Oanh, Director General of the Vietnam E-Commerce and Digital Economy Agency (Ministry of Industry and Trade). Photo: Duc Thien A Trillion-Dollar Frontier in the US and China In its initial rollout, the initiative focuses on helping domestic enterprises expand directly into the world’s two largest consumer markets: the United States and China. In the US, TikTok commands more than 200 million active users. A joint survey by TikTok Shop and GlobalData revealed that two-thirds of US users on the platform have discovered brands they had never heard of before. Notably, 72% of these newly discovered brands were SMEs, and nearly 90% of users decided to make a purchase within one month of their first exposure. Meanwhile, in China, livestream shopping has become an ingrained mass-market habit. Data from the 2025 White Paper published by Chinese regulatory authorities indicated that the country’s livestream transaction volume surpassed 5 trillion yuan (approximately $740 billion), accounting for nearly one-third of total online retail sales across 660 million consumers. Tran Thi Tan, Head of Social Impact and Strategic Partnerships at TikTok Shop, shared that many Vietnamese merchants have already honed strong content creation and livestreaming skills in the domestic market. The program’s objective is to transform these digital capabilities into an effective export engine on the global stage. (Source: Tuoi Tre Newspaper)