(Yicai) Dec. 6 -- Temu is engaging with the authorities in Vietnam after the overseas discount shopping platform of China’s PDD Holdings was ordered to suspend operations in the country.

“Temu is working with the Vietnam E-commerce and Digital Economy Agency and the Ministry of Industry and Trade to register its provision of e-commerce services in Vietnam,” according to a notice on its website.

Temu was ordered to halt operations after being told in November to register with the local authorities by the end of the month, a source told Jiemian News in a report published yesterday. The platform launched in Vietnam in October, offering free shipping along with discounts of as much as 90 percent and other promotions.

Yicai found that Temu's Vietnam site can still be accessed, with the nation available in the country/region tab and users are still able to add items to their shopping cart, though Vietnamese is missing from the language menu.

Vietnam’s government told cross-border e-commerce platforms to register with the industry ministry by the end of November, with those that failed to meet the deadline risking getting blocked and having their domain names restricted. During the registration process, the sites were required to suspend services, commercial activities, and advertising.

Temu is committed to offering affordable, high-quality made-in-China products to Vietnamese customers in the same way it benefits consumers in North and South America, Europe, and Africa, an inside source told The Paper.

Strict Measures

Vietnam’s government stipulates that e-commerce platforms must register before entering the market and set up a representative office or appoint an authorized representative, Hoang Ninh, deputy director of the E-commerce and Digital Economy Agency, has said. Sites with Vietnamese-language domains, display pages, or more than 100,000 transactions must register, he added.

Platforms must operate transparently, protect consumer rights, and cooperate with the government in combating illegal transactions, Hoang said. Those who do not comply will face strict measures in collaboration with the ministries of public security and information and communications, including access review and blocking, he noted.

The industry ministry had contacted the representatives of cross-border e-commerce platforms, including from Temu and Shein, updating them on the latest regulations regarding their operations in Vietnam, Deputy Minister Nguyen Hong Long said on Nov. 9.

According to official statistics, 115 foreign suppliers have registered through the electronic information portal and paid taxes, contributing over VND18 trillion (USD709.4 million) to Vietnam's national coffers.

SE Asian Market

Southeast Asia is turning into a vital market for cross-border e-commerce platforms. The five largest sites in Vietnam -- Shopee, Lazada Group, TikTok Shop, Tiki, and Sen Do Joint Stock -- have a combined monthly transaction volume of VND25.3 trillion, according to Metric’s third-quarter overview report on the online retail market.

Total sales on e-commerce platforms in Vietnam rose 18 percent to VND84.75 trillion last quarter from the prior one, while the figure jumped 38 percent to VND227.7 trillion (USD9 billion) in the nine months ended Sept. 30 from a year ago.

E-commerce revenue in the SE Asian market surged 19 percent to USD113.9 billion last year, while the global average was 8.9 percent, according to eMarketer. The region's digital economy will likely exceed USD295 billion by next year, with a compound annual growth rate of 16 percent between last year and 2025, per Great Wall Securities.

Editor: Martin Kadiev