On the afternoon of August 2, the Department of Industry and Trade of Da Nang City, the Department of Trade Promotion of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, organized the conference "Connecting trade, promoting exports - Da Nang 2024". Here, the Vietnam Trade Office in many foreign markets continuously warned businesses to be careful to avoid international trade fraud.

Mr. Vu Ba Phu, Director of the Trade Promotion Agency of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said that in the last 6 months of 2024, the international and domestic context has favorable factors, but production and trade development also faces many challenges. Geopolitical tensions and competition from major countries are increasing. The recovery of major trading partners is still slow. The risk of disruption of global supply chains and production chains, and high freight rates directly affect import and export activities and Vietnam's highly open economy.

In the coming time, the Ministry of Industry and Trade will continue to accompany localities in general and Da Nang City in particular to promote export promotion, trade promotion and trade connection to contribute to removing difficulties.

With the policy of diversifying consumption forms, the Ministry of Industry and Trade directs units to cooperate closely with relevant agencies, organizations and enterprises, expanding both traditional and modern distribution channels, focusing on exploiting online channels and e-commerce for Vietnamese goods in domestic and international markets.

In addition, the Ministry of Industry and Trade also actively promotes and diversifies export markets for Vietnamese products with the drastic participation of the Vietnamese trade agency system in all regions of the world.

At the conference, many delegates said that although trade fraud is not a new issue, the issue of caution in trade has recently become more heated due to warnings from export markets.

Mr. Nguyen Viet San, Deputy Director of the European - American Market Department of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said that recently, some countries such as the United States, Northern Europe, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Russia, etc. have been impersonating reputable import companies to defraud foreign businesses. Fraudsters (often from the Middle East or Africa) take advantage of the mentality that European countries are developed countries, have strict legal systems, and reputable companies, and have set up websites impersonating real companies with fake office addresses in developed countries and using sophisticated fraud methods. Therefore, Vietnamese export enterprises need to be careful, cautious and carefully research their partners before signing and executing sales contracts.

Similarly, according to Mr. Duong Hoang Minh, Commercial Counselor, Vietnam Trade Office in the Russian Federation, it is necessary to carefully research customers before conducting transactions and signing contracts. In recent years, some Vietnamese enterprises have been tricked by Internet users who offer cheap goods. Without careful research, they signed import contracts with loose conditions, including "pre-deposit". After the importing enterprise transferred the deposit, the representative of the exporting company "disappeared" or asked for more money and then "disappeared".

“The contract needs to be discussed by the parties and be legally binding, avoiding fraud or late payment. Special attention should be paid to payment issues and delivery conditions to avoid risks during contract implementation. Economic contracts need to be strictly followed by the parties to avoid breaches of contract, causing damage to the business and affecting the reputation of the national brand,” Mr. Minh said.

According to Ms. Quyen Thi Thuy Ha, Head of the Vietnam Trade Office in Osaka, Japan, finding a reliable partner is important, so businesses need to research and verify their partners and ask intermediary businesses to provide specific information about their partners; learn about insurance to minimize damage.

XUAN QUYNH