Anti-corruption fight requires high resolve: Deputy PM Phuc

Fighting corruption is a long-term mission that requires strong will and high resolve, said Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc at a conference in Ho Chi Minh City on December 24 to review the locality’s ten-year implementation of the law on anti-corruption.

Hailing the southern metropolis’s performance in the fight against corruption over the past ten years, the official said the city has defined anticorruption as an urgent and long-term task significant to national construction and defence.

However, limitations still remained in carrying out the task, the Deputy Prime Minister said, citing the failure of a number of State management agencies to catch up with the pace of development, resulting in loopholes in management.

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc addressing the conference.

The deputy PM noted that heads of many State agencies have yet to pay due heed and take drastic measures to prevent corruption and handle complaints about corruption acts in their units. He also said ineffective inspections are also to be blamed for the failure to discover and punish corrupt practices.

Besides, a segment of officials have taken advantage of loopholes in management and relevant mechanisms and policies to conduct corruption acts. Many others have abused their power or deliberately broken regulations for their personal interest, he said.

The Deputy Prime Minister asked the municipal Party Committee and authorities to improve the quality of inspections in the spheres of administrative reform, food safety, State capital management at State-owned and joint stock companies.

The city was also asked to raise the efficiency of coordination between competent agencies during the fight, especially between home affairs, inspection, public security, procuracy and court sectors.

It is a must for Ho Chi Minh City to increase personnel training while strictly abiding to personnel regulations particularly in tax, market management and customs agencies.

The Deputy PM said the Government will consider recommendations made by the city on the amendments and supplements to the Law.

During the reviewed period, HCM City police investigated 152 corruption cases with a total of 463 suspects, while the municipal court tried 199 cases with 636 defendants. Nearly 60 percent of corruption cases and defendants were related to embezzlement.