He was speaking at a meeting held between 20 newly appointed ambassadors and businesses before they begin their four-year assignments.

Toan, who chaired the meeting, said one of main jobs of the diplomats besides boosting political, economic and cultural ties with other countries was to help Vietnamese businesses find potential partners.

Many local businesses and diplomats expressed concern about the former losing money and goods after signing deals with the wrong partners in other countries.

A Vietnamese diplomat in Asia said local businesses were careless in selecting partners, entering into deals after learning their addresses and phones and making a few online transactions with them.

Nguyen Vu Tu, ambassador to the Philippines, said deals with high returns implied greater risks and local businesses should be aware of them. He said they should consult diplomats or services from information-gathering businesses and foreign associations in Vietnam.

Local businesses said it was not easy to access diplomats, adding there were instances where they gave out poor information as they did not have enough people to follow up on requests.

Toan said limited budgets also constrained diplomatic missions from providing better quality information to local businesses.

Reported by Minh Quang