Online ride-hailing market tipped to develop strongly

Vietnam’s online ride-hailing market has seen many positive results over recent years and is expected to become more competitive in the future.

Revenue in the market reached some $2.4 billion in 2021 with average annual growth of 30-35 per cent since 2015. The market posts the second-highest growth in Vietnam, after e-commerce. After seven years of development, it now has more than 20 different platforms, with some 67,000 taxis and 90,000 contract cars registered to take part.

The main obstacle the online ride-hailing market in Vietnam faces is finances. Businesses without the financial strength will find it difficult to maintain operations and compete with others.

To promote development, Mr. Nguyen Huu Tuan, Director of the Vietnam E-commerce and Digital Economy Agency at the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), said it is necessary to create a healthy and fair competitive environment between traditional taxis and technology taxis. Digital transformation needs to be boosted further and create favorable conditions for new businesses to enter the market through tax incentives or online payment incentives.

In addition to securing an open legal corridor and minimizing barriers and business conditions, enterprises themselves need to increase the application of information technology and connect and cooperate with each other to develop based on compliance with the law in order to guarantee fair competition.