A seminar took place in Ho Chi Minh City on January 7 to discuss risks in international trade and foreign debt recovery following the recent fraud faced by several seafood exporters.
HCM City (VNA) – A seminar took place in Ho Chi Minh City on January 7 todiscuss risks in international trade and foreign debt recovery following therecent fraud faced by several seafood exporters.
Three weeksago, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Processors (VASEP) issueda warning to its members against fraud in seafood export. Specifically, anumber of seafood exporters lost hundreds of thousands USD worth of goods toECHOPACK INC, represented by a person named Jason Brown, residing in Quebec,Canada.
ECHOPACKalledgedly deceived domestic exporters when it used two different signatures ona contract signed between the two sides to open a letter of credit (L/C), whichincluded a clause that the signature on the contract sent to General Equity bankmust match the one in the payment documents.
ThoughGeneral Equity Bank knew that the documents were invalid, it allowed ECHOPACKto receive the goods. Finally, it refused payment to Vietnamese exporters,reasoning that the L/C was invalid.
At theevent, VASEP Vice Secretary Nguyen Hoai Nam warned that amid extensive globalintegration, such incidents may occur often unless enterprises are equippedwith necessary knowledge and experience in transactions.
Accordingto experts, the biggest risk faced by Vietnamese businesses involves credit,which puts them in difficult situations to reclaim debt or makes them facefraud.
KeithStillings, Chief Executive Officer of the US’s Assurance Global Financial, saidVietnamese exporters lost nearly 8 billion USD to foreign partners in 2015 alonedue to swindles.
Lawyer Ngo Khac Le from the Vietnam International Arbitration Centre attributed theincidents to loose contracts and limited information about partners.
He adviseddomestic firms to work closely with trade associations, consultants and embassies toscreen partners, and be cautious of bargain offers.
Expertssuggested thoroughly examining the track record of partners and contract termsbefore reaching any deal.-VNA
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Illustrative image (Source: VNA) 
