The first six-months of this year has seen great progress in Vietnam's battle against corruption, according to Deputy Prime Minister and Vice Chairman of the Central Steering Committee on Anti-Corruption Truong Vinh Trong.

Accelerating administration reform and raising public awareness of government policies and laws was integral to winning the fight, Trong said.

To combat corruption, the Government has been pushing more transparent administrative procedures and by the end of June, most administrative offices nationwide had adopted the "one stop shop" mechanism for their public services.

The first six months of this year saw 3,241 petitions and complaints about bureaucracy settled, the Government Office itself deciding more than 200 petitions, organizing 18 working sessions and creating nine working groups to deal with these issues.

In the same period, nearly 2,700 legal regulations were reviewed, of which 439 were repealed. So far in the fight against corruption, more than 300 legal regulations have been issued.

To enforce the legislation, the National Steering Committee on Anti-corruption and the Government Inspection Agency conducted inspection visits to 48 provinces and cities, and in the first six months of this year alone, a total 3,435 inspections were carried out.

The inspections brought to light the misuse of nearly VND2.7tril and resulted in some 1,300 individuals and a number of collectives being petitioned for administrative sanctions. Inspectors themselves petitioned 48 cases to be brought to court for criminal trial.

Based on the results of auditing missions conducted in 2006 and early 2007, Trong said the State retrieved around VND1.076tril from tax evasion. Around VND21tril in assets with 25,536 sq.m of land were also revoked.

By the end of June, 347 acts of corruption were uncovered, of which 215 cases involving 500 people were brought to court.

Between January and June 2007 investigations into 61 accusations of corruption involving 130 people were wrapped up.

But despite this achievement, compared to the same period in 2006, corruption cases exposed have increased by 41% with the number of people brought to court rising by 43%.

Even though the battle against corruption was still quite young, anti-corruption committees nationwide had co-ordinated well with each other and fulfilled their assigned duties. However, challenges still remained, Trong said.

Slow settlement of major cases and limited retrieval of embezzled money were among obstacles holding the country back, the deputy said, referring to slow work between government administrations and judicial agencies.

This, added to the fact that the reporting system was not strictly followed and the low morals of some senior officials, meant the battle was not advancing as fast as it could, Trong said.

To ensure the full enforcement of the anti corruption law, it was important to have a comprehensive legal system and behaviour code as well as professional ethics for civil servants and public employees, as these people were the ground troops in the struggle, the Deputy Prime Minister said.

Tactics for the next six months included revision of the existing anti-corruption law and setting up the provincial Steering Committee on anti corruption.

The Government would complete a strategy on anti-corruption till 2020 and submit it to the National Assembly for approval.

Parallel to accelerating the issuance of decrees, decisions and instructions, the Government will also step up investigations and bring to court those accused of corruption, particularly major cases from 2006.

But whatever the Government focuses on, the country must continue to promote the information, education and communication campaign among government officials and civil servants, Trong said. (Viet Nam News, VietNamNet Bridge)