Workers at a garment factory in HCM CIty. Latin America is a potential market for Vietnamese garment products. — VNA/VNS Photo Hồng Đạt

HÀ NỘI — Businesses should carefully study their partners, following a range of trade frauds in Latin America in which Vietnamese firms were victimised, a senior official has said.

Trade Counselor in Mexico and Panama Lưu Vạn Khang said language barriers made Vietnamese businesses more vulnerable to scams, adding that most of the criminals used bank accounts in a third country to hinder investigations by competent agencies so many Vietnamese companies had lost their deposit or goods while conducting business transactions.

Khang advised Vietnamese enterprises to sign contracts with legally authorised representatives of their partners and use the L/C (letter of credit) payment method instead of T/T (telegraphic transfer).

If they had no choice except to use the T/T method, they should not transfer money to bank accounts in a third country or personal accounts, he suggested.

In addition to coordinating with the Vietnamese Trade Office in information verification, the firms should cooperate with law firms and business associations in Mexico and Latin America as well to diversify the sources of information, Khang said.

The Latin American region has for years been a potential market for Việt Nam, according to trade experts.

In terms of Việt Nam’s trade exchange, the region has always been among the markets with the highest growth. Not only a potential export market for Việt Nam's key products such as garment and textile, footwear, and agricultural and aquatic products, Latin America is also an important source of raw materials for the Vietnamese processing industry with such products as corn, soybean, and animal feed, experts said.

In the bloc, Mexico is Việt Nam’s second-largest trading partner. As members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), Việt Nam and Mexico have great opportunities to boost bilateral trade.

Mexico has committed to eliminating 77 per cent of tariff lines from January 14, 2018, and 98 per cent after a decade since the coming into force of the agreement. As a result, Việt Nam's exports such as seafood, coffee, rubber, phones, and auto components to Mexico have recently experienced significant growth, ranging from 27 per cent to 65 per cent.

Mexico has also gradually increased its export of beef, pork, agricultural products, and beverages to the Southeast Asian nation.

Việt Nam posted export turnover of US$4.53 billion with Mexico in 2022, bringing two-way trade revenue to over $5.42 billion, up 7 per cent year-on-year, according to the General Department of Customs. — VNS