— Reuters
HANOI: The Chinese eCommerce platform Temu has been told to suspend its operations in Vietnam following its failure to meet an end-November deadline for business registration.
The Industry and Trade’s Ministry Department of eCommerce and Digital Economy said it had asked Temu’s owner – Elementary Innovation Pte Ltd – to perform several measures to comply with Vietnam’s regulations for eCommerce.
The requests were made based on trade regulations that are specified in a government decree.
The Chinese platform has now stopped showing content in Vietnamese on the website temu.com and the Temu mobile application.
It also informed viewers that its business registration application is being reviewed and has not yet been approved by the trade authorities.
The platform also stopped showing Vietnamese viewers products and goods with promotions of more than 50% while halting programmes and models that encouraged Vietnamese users to participate in business to receive bonuses and commissions.
According to Hoang Ninh, the department’s deputy director, Temu had submitted its registration documents but had not yet completed the process.
If Temu failed to finalise its registration by Nov 30, it would be required to cease operations.
Ninh told VietNamNet that his department recently instructed Temu to suspend its activities until all registration procedures were completed.
Vietnamese-language options are unavailable from Temu’s website when accessed from Vietnam.
“Temu is working with the Vietnam eCommerce and Digital Economy Agency and the of Industry and Trade Ministry to register to provide eCommerce services in Vietnam,” the company said in a notice on the website.
However, the timing of Temu’s return has not been determined.
Temu, owned by Chinese eCommerce giant PDD Holdings, is considered one of the world’s fastest-growing eCommerce platforms, with sales estimated at US$30bil by the year-end.
It started allowing shoppers from Vietnam in October.
Nguyen Duc, Director of the Hanoi-based Viet A Media JSC, said that Temu’s success in major markets came from its strategy of exploiting the specific needs of each region.
Temu has affirmed its position in the home turf thanks to a model that combines wholesale and entertainment, similar to Cosco and TikTok. — Viet Nam News/ANN
