Vietnam has been gradually curbing corruption, Government Inspector General Le Minh Khai said at the ongoing 37th session of the National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee on September 12.

Government Inspector General Le Minh Khai speaks at the ongoing
37th session of the National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee 

Khai said corruption is on the decline, thereby helping to maintain the country’s political stability and socio-economic development and strengthen people’s confidence.

 The chief inspector attributed the result to the good coordination between agencies in solving problems and the adoption of drastic solutions in dealing with corruption cases.

 Many corruption cases have been investigated further to clarify the nature of appropriation and corruption. It proved that there is no ‘restricted areas and exceptions’ in the fight against corruption, he said.

 However, Khai said the quality in settlement of a number of economic and corruption cases had not met the requirements. The recovery of assets in corruption cases was still much lower than the value of property which was illegally appropriated, he said.

 Regarding the existence of the “petty corruption” which causes trouble for residents and enterprises, the NA Judicial Committee proposed the Government clarify exactly what the problems are before offering solutions.

 It was necessary to determine the responsibilities of ministers or heads of agencies involved, the committee said.

 According to the committee, the punishments handed out have been strong enough.

 As many 21 leaders have been punished so far this year due to the occurrence of corruption in their agencies, a decrease of eight people compared with the same period last year.

 In response to voters’ complaints, the NA Judicial Committee suggested the Government Inspectorate, ministries of public security, justice and construction, and other agencies review the situation and set forth measures to cope with corruption fighting in the future.

 The committee asked the Ministry of Public Security’s Investigation Police Department on Economic, Corruption-related Crimes and Smuggling, and Investigation Department of Supreme People’s Court to focus on detecting corruption in anti-corruption agencies and law enforcement agencies in next year’s working agenda.

 The Inspectorate Director General attributed the phenomenon to the fact that some leaders of localities and agencies didn’t set good examples and failed to take their duties in anti-corruption serious.

 A lack of efficient checks and balances and shortcomings in supervising responsibilities of high-ranking officials were also blamed.

 To promote the work, Khai said the Government would strictly abide by the Party’s regulations on corruption prevention and combat as well as the Law on Anti-Corruption and Prevention. The administration reform would be boosted and weakness in the work would be tackled.

 The inspection and prosecution of corruption cases would also be strengthened, he said.