E-commerce development master plan approved     Illustrative photo (Photo: stefanini.com) Hanoi - The Prime Minister has given the green light to a master plan to develop e-commerce over the period 2016-2020, which will strive to build a network providing e-commerce services in all cities and provinces nationwide in the next four years. Accordingly, legal infrastructure for e-commerce will be completed by 2020, aiming to catch up with the development of different e-commerce models and activities in society.  National e-commerce payment methods will be branched out to fit with various e-payment models, especially the business-to-customer (B2C), business-to-business (B2B), government-to-citizen (G2C) and government-to-business (G2B). A network from shipping services to order fulfillment for e-commerce will be built under the master plan, aiming to promote cross-border e-commerce activities. Safety and security infrastructure for the sector will be developed with the establishment of management and monitoring systems, rating of e-commerce websites and mechanisms to address disputes and violations in e-commerce transactions. Regarding e-commerce market scale, about 30 percent of the population are expected to join online shopping by 2020, with the average value of purchased commodities reaching 350 USD per buyer. The B2C e-commerce sales will increase by 20 percent annually to reach 10 billion USD in 2020, accounting for 5 percent of the country’s total retail sales and service revenues.  The master plan also encourages the development of e-commerce across borders with B2B e-commerce sales expected to make up 30 percent of the total import-export revenue in the next four years. By 2020, 50 percent of the businesses will have an internet presence to update their business information and popularise their products. Meanwhile, 80 percent of enterprises will order or receive orders through e-commerce applications on the Internet or on mobile platforms. All supermarkets, shopping malls and distribution facilities will install point-of-sale (POS) systems which enable non-cash payment when purchasing. In addition, non-cash payment is also encouraged in 50 percent of households in big cities and 70 percent of providers of power, water, communication and media services.-VNA