VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam ranks second among the countries with the most complaints related to corruption, especially in the field of transport and water supply, according to the World Bank (WB).

Speaking at a conference on "Strengthening governance to promote development in Vietnam" held on January 20, Mrs. Conchita Carpio Morales, a member of the Philippines inspection agency, identified bribery as the "enemy" of development and effective governance.

"The developing countries lose about $20-$40 billion per year due to bribery, embezzlement and corruption," Morales said.

She urged governments to take more drastic action to repel corruption, in order to create conditions for sustainable economic development.

Sharing this viewpoint, the WB representative, Anders Hjorth Agerskov, said the East Asia - Pacific region ranks second worldwide in the percentage of projects that receive complaints about fraud and corruption, behind only Africa. Vietnam is considered a hot spot.

In the list of 20 countries with the most complaints, Vietnam ranked second, behind only India.

Transportation and water supply are the hottest fields, followed by agriculture and energy.

"Perhaps the figures do not fully reflect the truth, but they should be considered," said Agerskov.

Experts also identified that one of the "knots" in Vietnam is the management of ODA-funded projects.

In the past 30 years, international donors committed to provide Vietnam with $80 billion, with most of the amount allocated for infrastructure development projects. In fact, negative manifestations like fraud and corruption in these projects are still worrying for the management bodies of Vietnam as well as donors.

"The suspected cases of corruption, bribery or other violations of law related to ODA-funded infrastructure projects recently reported by the media have upset the public," said Vice Chief Government Inspector Tran Duc Luong during his presentation.

The most prominent cases include Project Management Unit 18 (PMU18) in 2005, the East - West Avenue project (PCI) in 2008, and most recently, the bribery allegation case of the Hanoi urban railway project (JTC).

ODA-funded projects are often large ones, using complicated technology and implemented over a long time, involving many parties. Thus, the risk of corruption and fraud is very high.

According to Luong, some local leaders consider ODA loans as non-refundable aid so their highest goal is to get ODA projects, and they do not pay careful attention to the requirements of using ODA effectively.

In addition, some officials of local governments or central agencies are afraid that the discovery of ODA-related violations will negatively affect foreign relations and development cooperation policy at a national level between the Government of Vietnam and donors, leading to a fight against corruption and fraud in the field of management, and inefficient use of ODA, Luong said.

VNE