Senior officials of Japan and Vietnam met in Hanoi on Tuesday morning, three weeks after Japan announced that it would cancel ODA disbursement for railway projects in Vietnam that were believed to be involved in corruption.

 VietNamNet Bridge - Serving investigation of bribery allegations related to a Japanese contractor, the Vietnam Railway Administration has suspended Tran Van Luc, Director of the Railway Project Management Unit.

 Ten Vietnamese transport officials affirmed they were not associated with the bribery scandal of the Japan Transportation Consultants, Inc. (JTC) and did not lend a helping hand to the company’s corrupt behaviour.

 The first meeting of Joint Vietnam-Japan Committee will be held in Hanoi on April 3 in a bid to clarify issues related to bribery allegations against Japanese railway consultancy firm JTC.

 VietNamNet Bridge - In addition to the establishment of an inspection team to verify the bribery allegations, the Ministry of Transport has set up a hotline for receiving information concerning this case.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Transport has asked 10 officials, including three retired people, who wereinvolved in the urban railway project to clarify responsibilities in the implementation process of this project.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Transport Minister Dinh La Thang said the government is committed to ferret out all those involved in the recently uncovered transport project bribery schemes and impose strict penalties, regardless of their positions.

 VietNamNet Bridge - Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh asked Japan to provide information to clarify the bribery allegations and suggested the two sides improve the mechanism to prevent similar cases in the future.