HANOI - COMMUNIST Vietnam on Tuesday signed pacts with Australia and Britain to jointly fight migration fraud and other transnational crime, statements from London and Canberra said.

Australia and Britain stress their growing diplomatic and trade ties with Vietnam but both governments have also sought to crack down on illegal immigration and drug-related crime from the Southeast Asian nation.

Australia's Immigration Minister Chris Evans and Vietnam's Public Security Minister General Le Hong Anh signed an Exchange of Immigration Information memorandum of understanding (MoU), Senator Evans's office said.

'Minister Anh and I discussed the importance of strong migration management in the region to address people smuggling by sea and air, human trafficking and other irregular migration issues,' Mr Evans said in a statement.

Mr Evans said Australia had already donated to Vietnam five document examination laboratories to counter migration fraud at airports and seaports.

'The laboratories include a specialised video imaging system, microscopes and light sources including ultraviolet and white light,' Mr Evans said.

'Identity fraud is a global issue, and possessing specialist equipment and examination techniques is crucial for enhancing the integrity of international borders in our region,' said Mr Evans, on a four-day visit to Vietnam.

Mr Evans also proposed setting up a working group 'to generate open discussion of the bilateral relationship and migration-related issues of mutual interest.'

Also on Tuesday, a senior British diplomat signed a legal framework for law enforcement cooperation with Vietnam's Public Security Deputy Minister Senior Lieutenant General Le The Tiem, the British embassy said.

The 'treaty will map out a comprehensive legal framework for UK-Vietnam law enforcement cooperation,' said the British embassy on its website, without publishing the agreement itself.

Britain's Sir Peter Ricketts, permanent under secretary of the Foreign Office, also signed a broader MoU with Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Cuong that included a section on migration and organised crime.

Among the aims was to have 'fewer Vietnamese entering the UK illegally' and the 'regular, rapid and sustained return of immigration offenders,' according to a copy of the MoU published on the British website.

The bilateral pact also aimed for 'increased prosecutions and reduced occurrences of crimes such as cannabis production, drug trafficking, e-crime, money laundering and organised migration crime, child sexual abuse.' -- AFP