Last Friday (28 Mar 2025), over 200 ecommerce ecosystem players gathered in Ho Chi Minh City for the Global Ecommerce & Digital Trade Summit, hosted by the Department of Industry and Trade of Ho Chi Minh City and Momentum Works.
The Summit, which was held alongside HCM City Export 2025 expo, also saw the participation of 60 business leaders and executives from Cohort 2 of Momentum Works Vietnam Ecommerce & Retail Immersion.
Vietnam has the fastest growing ecommerce market in Southeast Asia (52.9% in 2023), and with a penetration of around 10%, a lot of head room for further growth. In the current uncertain geopolitical environment, will the growth continue? Or rather, how should various stakeholders come together to make sure that the growth continues?
These were the topics discussed extensively during the half day Summit. Here are some of the highlights:
1. Mr Nguyễn Nguyên Phương, Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Trade of Ho Chi Minh City, kicked off the summit and welcomed the guests.
2. Mr Jianggan Li (Lý Giang Can), CEO of Momentum Works, delivered a keynote which drew an extensive benchmark between ecommerce and retail development in Vietnam, China and the rest of Southeast Asia.
Mr Li also addressed the rise of AI and gave five pieces of suggestions to Vietnamese sellers in the current landscape. (The full deck can be downloaded here, free for Summit participants).
3. Mr Francis Yang (Dương Phàm), Vice President of Best Express Vietnam gave a sharing on how technology (incl. Intelligent warehousing, predictive analytics and blockchain) can transform ecommerce logistics and logistics in general in Vietnam and Southeast Asia.
An example he shared is how smart warehouse and distribution solutions for a leading automotive OEM, resulted in a 12% reduction in procurement costs and $1.8 million in annual savings.
4. Jensen Wu (Ngô Xuân Thông), CEO of TopviewAI, highlighted how AI-native video creation is redefining ecommerce storytelling, and drastically improving the cost efficiency of content generation in ecommerce operations. He also demonstrated a few videos of the latest AI capabilities in video creation and live streaming.
TopviewAI’s AI livestreams have already helped a Vietnamese ecommerce brand achieve up to 70% of human-level performance during campaigns—at a fraction of the cost.
5. Tín Lê, CEO of Adtek, emphasised that while platform fees and cross border competition are rising, Vietnamese sellers still have a unique opportunity: to shift from price-led growth to brand-led commerce. Lê and the Adtek team have led brand strategy and performance growth across platforms like Shopee and TikTok Shop.
With consumers increasingly willing to pay for trusted brands, and AI tools now accessible even to small teams, the future belongs to sellers who build long-term value—not just chase short-term traffic.
The four speakers also joined a panel where audiences were able to ask questions and voice issues. Here were some of the questions raised by Vietnamese sellers and brands, which the panelists addressed accordingly:
- “How can SMEs stay competitive amid rising platform fees, growing cross-border competition, and increasing customer acquisition costs?”
- “AI is getting popular — what does this mean for SMEs? How can it help our business?”
- “What is unique about Vietnam as compared to China or other countries in the region?”
These questions reflect the actual concerns of many in the ecosystem, and precisely how some of the technologies and frameworks presented at this Summit were aiming to address.
The summit also witnessed the signing of 6 MOUs, with parties including Ho Chi Minh City Center for Agricultural Consultancy and Support (HCACS), Vietnam Multi-channel E-commerce Promotion Joint Stock Company (TOPVN), Best Express Vietnam, Hangzhou E-commerce Association, Topview AI, Momentum Works, Adtek and Tridge Group.
We would like to thank the Department of Industry and Trade for their support and hard work, and more importantly their dedication to build collaborations with Vietnamese businesses. Also a great pleasure to have interacted with all the speakers, delegates and community friends at the Summit.
Alongside the Summit, Momentum Works Vietnam Ecommerce & Retail Immersion was an intensive four-day agenda where 60 delegates from 7 countries and territories interacted and exchanged with leading ecommerce and retail businesses in Ho Chi Minh City. We will share more about the Immersion in an upcoming post.
At its core, the Momentum Works Immersions are about more than just knowledge-sharing—it’s about creating real cross-cultural opportunities for collaboration and growth. Join us next time!
