Entrepreneurship and Technological Innovation by John Yang from Mitra NV and Marcel Vonsee from Link Marketing Solutions NV. The presentation on ‘Legal and Illegal Cigarettes in Suriname and the region’ that was held last Wednesday focused on the problems that were triggered by the tax hike in 2006. Although there were a few periods of improvement, the large scale smuggling still exists. The illegal trade has resulted in huge financial losses for the government. During the presentation it was said that the financial losses reach an estimated $40 million per year. But the illegal trade in cigarettes which is also linked to other types of crimes such as the drug trade, human trafficking, the illegal trade in weapons and money laundering also poses a threat to the public health due to the availability of illegal tobacco products that could be of inferior quality. Smugglers do not only focus on smuggling original products but they also bring knock off cigarettes which are known as ‘cheap whites’ into the country. Free trade zones play an important role in the fight against the illegal trade in cigarettes but according to Vonsee adequate mechanisms are required to prevent the illegal flow of goods. Importers and merchants keep developing new methods to bring products into the country undetected. The fight against the illegal trade therefore requires a coordinated effort of the ministries and agencies that are tasked with finance, trade, safety and public health.