Experience the digital society and business practices while working in Vietnam

In Japan, people tend to think of Southeast Asia as a developing country, but when you actually work in Vietnam, that image changes dramatically. Payments in the city have also been digitized, and it often feels like online services have permeated everyday life.

Life in Vietnam is more digitalized than you might imagine

The first and most notable example is e-commerce.

When I first arrived, I asked a stylish Vietnamese employee in his 20s, "Where do you buy your clothes?" and he replied that he buys them from online sites like Shopee and Lazada.
In Japan, it's like a cross between Amazon and SHEIN.

Furthermore, it seems that young people these days are increasingly finding trendy clothes on TikTok and then purchasing them directly from TikTok's online store. I actually bought a pair of pants that were a hot topic on TikTok, and they were delivered within 2-3 business days. By the way, this TikTok shopping feature is not yet available in Japan.

The barrier of "country-specific app restrictions" faced by expatriates

However, when expatriates try to actually use local apps, they sometimes run into obstacles.

Take the Shopee app for example.

It doesn't show up in the App Store with an Apple ID created in Japan, so I can't download it no matter what I do.
This is because Apple's App Store controls distribution based on the country setting of the user's Apple ID, and apps that do not include Japan in their "public regions" cannot be used with Japanese accounts.

I also ended up creating a new Apple ID in Vietnam, switching to the local store, and finally installing Shopee. It was a moment when I truly experienced firsthand the regional control provided by Apple's cloud distribution platform.

I strongly feel the difference from Japan even in everyday payment methods.

Cash is rarely used in Vietnam, and even at local restaurants and cafes, people can scan QR codes on the counter with their smartphones to instantly transfer money. Local apps such as ZaloPay and Momo are the mainstream, and are convenient because they are directly linked to bank accounts. Electronic payments are also commonplace with taxi-hailing apps such as Grab and Be.

"Red invoice" is mandatory for corporate transactions

However, in the business world, there are other rules.

In transactions between corporations"Red Invoice"An official tax invoice is required. Without it, it is not possible to record expenses or claim a VAT refund (a system unique to Vietnam where value-added tax paid can be recovered through input deductions or tax returns), so it is extremely important for Japanese companies to be able to issue a red invoice when signing a service contract.

IIJ Global Solutions Vietnam also supports issuing red invoices when you sign up for cloud services, including AWS.

Cashless transactions are the norm in Vietnam, but a unique local rule known as the "red invoice" has taken root in the business world. We bring you the reality of this from the local area.