In recent years, the Vietnamese business community has increasingly aimed to build products according to OCOP standards. As of July 2025, the country had more than 17,000 OCOP products with 3 stars or more, from nearly 9,200 OCOP entities. Of which, 126 products were recognized as 5-star OCOP products at the national level.
Up to now, many OCOP products have met quality and food safety standards and regulations; have diverse designs and packaging that are environmentally friendly, suitable for market requirements.
However, the development of OCOP products still has many limitations due to the lack of popular application of information technology, lack of qualified human resources, lack of understanding of the processes and regulations for transactions on e-commerce platforms, etc. In reality, the number of Vietnamese enterprises and cooperatives using e-commerce platforms to promote exports is still low.
At the conference "Application of digital transformation in developing export OCOP products" on the morning of August 1 in Hanoi , representatives of management agencies, experts and enterprises shared the barriers and challenges that prevent Vietnamese enterprises, cooperatives and OCOP entities from boldly applying e-commerce and digital export for development.
Mr. Vu Ba Phu - Director of the Trade Promotion Agency ( Ministry of Industry and Trade ) said that the biggest barrier is the lack of resources, especially financial and human resources. Due to lack of funds, small businesses have difficulty hiring experts who are knowledgeable about digital export promotion, leading to ineffective operations.
Once the resource barrier is overcome, businesses continue to face a lack of local market information, not knowing where and from whom to seek information.
Another barrier is the difficulty in organizing and managing the supply chain, as e-commerce requires optimizing many stages from logistics, warehousing to transportation.
In addition, businesses must also meet the strict standards of the export market, from food safety and hygiene, quality, to labeling, language and local consumer culture.
Speaking more about capacity barriers, Mr. Phuong Dinh Anh - Deputy Chief of the Central Office for New Rural Area Coordination ( Ministry of Agriculture and Environment ) acknowledged that many OCOP entities have a low starting point, only finishing grade 4 or 5, making products based on family experience. When advised to change production processes or packaging to increase product value, they encounter many difficulties because they are used to the old way of doing things. Therefore, they need to be trained, coached and "hands-on".
The second is fear and lack of confidence. Many people think they are not capable enough to participate in the digital playground, and before they even start, they think they cannot do it.
Meanwhile, Mr. Nguyen Van Bien - General Director of NBT Holdings Trade Promotion Company Limited acknowledged that the barrier is not necessarily due to lack of capacity, but due to lack of clear goals and lack of specific actions. Vietnamese enterprises still have relatively few access to B2B e-commerce, lacking thorough preparation compared to Chinese enterprises - units that have clear export strategies and proactively support partners to meet standards.
He emphasized that to export successfully, Vietnamese businesses must identify the right market and take decisive action, instead of letting opportunities fall into the hands of others.
Sharing her practical experience in online exporting, Ms. Vo Hoang Van - Founder and Director of V.KAUS Company Limited said that starting from scratch with a loan of 4 million VND, no business background and having lost nearly 1.5 billion VND in her first export order, she overcame the crisis to build a business with million-dollar revenue.
According to Ms. Van, honesty is a "hard-won" lesson learned after failure. It is necessary to build absolute trust with partners through transparency and sincerity. When customers trust, they will not only come back but also introduce new customers and become long-term partners.
It is necessary to take care of customers "like lovers" because dedication will turn customers into loyal partners, even cooperating in other business deals.
In particular, businesses need to learn about the market first, love the product later, and avoid being "infatuated" with their product and forgetting about the market.
With an e-commerce platform, businesses need to proactively exploit features such as verified stores to increase reputation, advertise, and optimize product images. Actively participate in support programs of ministries and branches to receive in-depth training and enhance brand reputation. At the same time, seriously apply AI to operations to save time and resources.
Ms. Luong Ngan - Senior Lecturer at the University of South London (UK), an expert in marketing, communications and branding, recommends that when selling and using digital technology to sell, it is important to link data with emotions.
"With OCOP, we have a story, we sell values, culture, and pride in the Vietnamese people. So how do we tell stories, express emotions, real people, real products through digital technology and media channels? We have to put emotions into it," Ms. Ngan said.
When targeting demanding markets like Europe or the UK, professionalism must be demonstrated right from the smallest details like fonts, spelling mistakes. These small mistakes will make consumers feel that we are unprofessional and have inconsistent branding.
According to Ms. Ngan, the unique identity of OCOP is the most powerful weapon. European consumers appreciate the real stories behind the products: the story of the farmer, the manual process, or how the product changes the livelihood of the community. These are factors that have great power and create deep connections.
One challenge of digitalization is sustainability. Therefore, businesses need to build a comprehensive digitalization strategy while ensuring sustainability in the approach.
"OCOP will be a bridge to bring Vietnamese culture and values to the world. If done in the right direction, understanding consumers and professionalizing, OCOP products have great potential in demanding markets such as the UK and Europe," the expert said.
Source: https://doanhnghiepvn.vn/chuyen-doi-so/kinh-te-so/giai-bai-toan-xuat-khau-san-pham-ocop-bang-cong-nghe-so/20250801032720040
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