Vietnamese Officials, Donors Hold Conference on Corruption

Text of report in English by Vietnamese news agency VNA website

[Unattributed article from the "Politics" page: "Government officials, donors converse on corruption"]

Hanoi (VNA) -Vietnamese government officials and representatives of foreign donors met to discuss the fight against corruption in the third meeting of its kind.

Ambassador Rolf Bergman of Sweden, whose country co-hosted the meeting in Hanoi on June 3, noted that the fight against corruption has been placed high in many working programmes of the Party, the National Assembly and the Government of Vietnam.

He said Sweden and other donors are willing to continue assisting and helping Vietnam to increase transparency and publicity as they are important factors in the fight against corruption in the country.

The ambassadors of the Netherlands, Australia, the US, and Sweden, as well as UNDP and DFID officials all outlined the need to promote the role of the press in the fight, especially its monitoring role, informing capacity and the right to access information.

Taking floor, Government Inspector General Tran Van Truyen agreed the Vietnamese Government considers the press as an important channel in preventing and pushing up the combat against corruption.

However, the Vietnamese official stressed that the press has to publish accurate information and must also be responsible before law publishing incorrect news that adversely affect society.

UNDP Representative John Hendra highlighted the press’ recent contributions to the anti-corruption drive, suggesting the establishment of a national archives on information and data related to corruption.

At the dialogue, Vietnamese government officials and donor representatives also discussed administrative reform, focusing on improving professionalism and responsibility of State civil servants.

“Enhancing the quality, professionalism and responsibility of State employees is always placed at the mainstay of administrative reform to help make the ani-corruption drive successful and effective,” Government Inspector General Tran Van Truyen said.

Meanwhile, Vice Rector of the Inspection Science Institute of the Government Inspectorate, Dinh Van Minh, openly admitted that “Vietnamese civil servants have not yet displayed high professionalism and responsibility as well as single-mindedness and a sense of justice in their work.”

He blamed shortcomings in recruitment and employment of civil servants in addition to low payment for performance.

Apart from those issues, Vietnamese government officials and donor representatives agreed on overall assessments of the progress in the fight against corruption.

The event was co-hosted by the Government Inspectorate, the Office of the Anti-Corruption Central Steering Committee and the Swiss Embassy in Vietnam . It is part of the upcoming Consultative Group Meeting in Vietnam.

It saw the attendance of reporters from Nhan Dan newspaper, the Vietnam News Agency, the Voice of Vietnam, the Vietnam Television, and other mass media agencies.

Vietnamese government officials and representatives of donors for Vietnam sat in similar dialogues in May and December 2007.

Originally published by VNA news agency website, Hanoi, in English 4 Jun 08.

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