VN, France shake hands to prevent trade frauds

The agreement was inked in Hà Nội yesterday by Director of the General Department of Customs of Việt Nam Lê Mạnh Hùng and his French counterpart Jérôme Fournel.

Under the agreement, the French Customs Department (FCD) will hold training courses and share information, knowledge, experience and technologies applicable for discovering and preventing illegal activities, such as drugs and goods trafficking, and money laundering.

The pact is the follow-up of a series of cooperative activities between the two countries’ customs departments and a part of the 2008-10 strategy for customs cooperation.

This year, FCD decided to advocate Việt Nam to eradicate counterfeit drugs, wine and auto spare parts.

With a rising status in the world, Việt Nam has become an important trade partner of quite a few countries, including France. The two-way trade turnover between the two countries reached over US $1.8 billion in 2008.

Việt Nam is among the most key trade partners of France, particularly in the area of customs,” said Mr. Xavier Depouilly, Vice President of the Agency for the Development of Exchanges in Economic and Financial Technologies (ADETEF Việt Nam).

Founded in Việt Nam in 1993, ADETEF Việt Nam helps France’s partners realize their economic projects and institutional reforms.

By Kim Anh