Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Internet penetration deep but fails to benefit commerce

Vietnam is among the global big boys in terms of internet penetration and user numbers but lags behind in using the net for e-commerce.

According to a recent survey by the Asia Digital Marketing Yearbook (www.asiadma.com), Vietnam was listed 17th in the world in internet use with 15.5mil users and a density of 18.64 users per 100 population.

These numbers surpass the world and Southeast Asian averages - including those of China, Thailand, and Indonesia, but behind Singapore and Malaysia.

"It is remarkable since the internet appeared in the country only a very short time ago - 10 years ago," Deputy Minister of Post and Telematics Tran Duc Lai said.

However, the internet is not used to any great effect: The websites of many ministries and provinces are not updated and do not have useful information; though all universities are connected, only a tiny number of students are able to access the net.

Furthermore, a survey by the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry found that 92% of businesses that had websites did not bother to update them, 70% of businesses in big cities did not use web services, and 97% of entrepreneurs did not know about e-commerce.
Lai said: "An urgent task for the ministry and other authorities is to improve the quality of internet use in Vietnam."

Source: VNE

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