Setsuko Yamazaki, UN Development Programme (UNDP) Country Director for Vietnam, said that UNCAC aims to intensify measures against corruption, promote international cooperation, provide technical assistance in combating corruption, and enhance the transparency and management of public assets.  

Like other countries, Vietnam has signed the Convention, showing its determination to clean up corruption, she said. 

She also affirmed that the national working group of the UN is willing to help the Vietnamese government disseminate a comprehensive set of standards and values of UNCAC to its citizens.

Minister Counsellor Koichi Aiboshi of the Japanese Embassy in Hanoi said that Japan and Vietnam have established a joint committee for fighting corruption concerning the use of Japan’s official development assistance (ODA) in Vietnam. The two countries have also worked on a joint initiative to improve regulations on bidding, purchase and implementation of ODA projects.

Japan praised the Vietnamese government for having implemented measures proposed by the joint committee and hopes that those measures will be applied to other ODA projects which are not funded by Japan, he said.  

Delegates shared the view that Vietnam’s national strategy on anti-corruption identifies different stages with basic, long-term and specific objectives for each period and works out comprehensive solutions for the periods with specific steps. It also makes clear the responsibility of social and political organisations in implementation to ensure the feasibility and efficiency of the strategy.

Meanwhile, UNCAC offers Vietnam the chance to make full use of assistance from other UN member countries, ranging from information and experience sharing to personnel training and provision of technical assistance. Much of the convention’s contents will be used to perfect Vietnam’s legal system in the future, especially the anti-corruption law. 

Speakers pointed out weaknesses in the anti-corruption fight in Vietnam during the past three years, and the institutional and procedural requirements for the completion of the legal system in Vietnam, and to full implementation of the UN convention. They looked at anti-corruption policies and agencies and anti-corruption measures in the public sector, financial services and the non-State sector.

They also discussed Vietnam’s Criminal Code, anti-money laundering procedures, international cooperation, the media’s role and efficiency of public administration in the field.  

The two-day workshop is being co-organised by the Government Inspectorate and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.  A similar workshop will be held in Ho Chi Minh City on October 29-30.