Introduction

After thirty years of “Doi Moi”, Vietnam has emerged from a backward country to an emerging economy through an industrialization and modernization process. The country's socio-economic infrastructure has improved greatly during the reform period. Vietnam's per capita income has increased sharply from US$471 in 2001 to US$2,300 in 2015 (VietnamPlus 2018). As a result of six years of implementing the E-commerce Development Master Plan from 2011 to 2016, Vietnam has successfully developed infrastructure for sustainable growth in its e-commerce market. E-commerce has become more common in Vietnam and has contributed significantly in strengthening the competitiveness of enterprises. This chapter summarizes the achievements of Vietnam's e-commerce market from 2011 to 2016, and discusses the key trends in the coming years.

Vietnam's Socio-economic Structure and Performance

Vietnam is a Southeast Asian country and is a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) since 1995 and the World Trade Organization (WTO) since 2007. It has a population size of more than 92 billion. Its total gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate in 2016 was 6.21 per cent. As a result of thirty years of “Doi Moi”, Vietnam has demonstrated great achievements in its socio-economic development. Even in the context of the global economic slowdown in recent years, Vietnam has been considered as one of the emerging economies in Asia with high economic growth rate. Its average GDP growth rate from 2011 to 2015 was about 5.88 per cent.

Vietnam has shown great efforts and determination for reforms in the Socio-Economic Development Strategy (SEDS) for the period of 2011–20. Its economic growth is supported by the growth of industrial production, including processing and manufacturing growth. In 2016–20, the government will show strong determination in promoting the market economy's operation to speed up the economy.

With regard to the structure of Vietnam's economy in 2016, the service sector's 40.92 per cent represented the largest proportion. This is followed by the industry and construction sector (32.72 per cent); the agriculture, forestry and fishery sector (16.32 per cent); and product taxes less subsidies on production sector (10.04 per cent). Export turnovers of Vietnam in 2016 reached an estimated US$175.9 billion. This represents a rise of 8.6 per cent over the same period in 2015.