The 13th anti-corruption dialogue between the Vietnamese Government and international donors and development partners was organised in Hanoi on November 26, seeking measures to prevent bribery and taking back bribes.

Addressing the event, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, who is deputy head of the Central Steering Committee on Corruption Prevention and Control, thanked the donors, international organisations, domestic and foreign consultants and scholars for fulfilling their role and working closely with Government offices in organising the dialogues.

Despite differences in ways to exchange information and experience relating to corruption prevention between the Government and donors and development partners, their fine collaboration will be maintained and continue growing, he added.

The Government official affirmed that over the past time, corruption prevention measures have brought about positive results, particularly progresses in administrative procedure reform relating to investment, land, taxation and customs.

Asset recovery is an important task in the fight against corruption, but the work has yet to meet the demand, he said, suggesting State management offices strengthen their inspections and promote the role of people and press agencies in this work and related issues.

According to Justice Minister Ha Hung Cuong, prevention is the first and most important solution in the fight against corruption, while asset recovery aims to address bad impact caused by bribery acts on the State resources and the society. They are the two main pillars of the United Nations Convention on Anti-corruption (UNCAC), which will be examined during the second cycle of UNCAC review mechanism of its member states, including Vietnam, starting from 2015, he stated.

UK Ambassador to Vietnam Giles Lever said with the support of the international community, Vietnam has been working hard to introduce and implement “best practice” measures on anti-money laundering and asset recovery.

Despite progress in these and other areas, major challenges remain , he said, adding that Vietnam still needs to improve domestic coordination across organisations, and internationally with other jurisdictions, in order to apply effectively the rules and frameworks which now exist.

Representatives of international donors and development partners affirmed their continuous assistance for the Vietnamese Government in the fight.

Deputy PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

Many participants suggested the Vietnamese Government continues implementing laws and legal documents relating to corruption prevention and combat in an effective manner while building specific programmes to raise the awareness of people, press agencies and businesses and attract their involvement in this work.

According to statistics from the Supreme People’s Procuracy, from October 1, 2010 to April 30, 2013, the total value of bribery assets and losses caused by corruption was over 17 trillion VND (800 million USD), of which nearly 5 trillion VND was taken back, accounting for 29.4 percent.

The government’s report on anti-corruption work in 2014 shows that so far this year, inspections brought to light 54 corruption cases with total money of 68.5 billion VND, of which 46.9 billion VND was recovered.