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Weak enforcement hampers Vietnam's anti-corruption efforts

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 11:34 GMT

Source: Content partner // Thomson Reuters Accelus

A bank staff stacks Vietnamese dong banknotes at a bank in Hanoi 29/11/2010 REUTERS/Nguyen Huy Kham

Vietnam continues to be hampered in its anti-corruption efforts despite its government's recognition of the gravity of the problem and a national strategy aimed at eradicating nationwide corruption. Experts cited a lack of political will, the challenge in moving swiftly from legislation, implementation to enforcement, and a general pessimism among the Vietnamese people as the three main factors that have beset initiatives intended to rid the country of corruption.

The 2010 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) of Transparency International placed Vietnam on 116 out of 178 countries globally with a score at the lower end of 2.7 out of 10 points. Vietnam's ranking on CPI, carried out by experts, was consistent with that on Global Corruption Barometer, which measures a country's level of corruption based on the views and voices of citizens of countries.

According to experts in Vietnam, the Communist Party of Vietnam and the Vietnamese Government had publicly stated that corruption would threaten the existence of the current regime, and a "National Anti-Corruption Strategy Towards 2020" had been drawn up. "The party and the government have recognised the threats of corruption to the current regime and they are intent on fighting corruption more vigorously. The public has also become more concerned about corruption now [than before]," Luu Hoang Ha, a solicitor who specialises in anti-corruption law at LDV Lawyers in Ho Chi Minh City, told Thomson Reuters.

Nguyen Thi Kieu Vien, founder and executive director of Towards Transparency, a local affiliate of Transparency International, thinks that the Vietnamese government's anti-corruption legislation is rather comprehensive which includes the Anti-Corruption Law 2005, and the National Anti-Corruption Strategy Towards 2020. She pointed out, however, that the current legislation has focused largely on the public sector, and corruption in the private sector has not been properly dealt with.

According to many transparency indicators, Vietnam scored poorly in 2010 compared to 2009 with business entry costs and transparency being two areas cited as "worsening". Experts attributed the worsening business entry costs to the facilitation payments that companies had been made to pay for doing businesses in Vietnam. The scores were obtained based on the experiences of domestic and international firms operating out of Vietnam.

Facilitation payments, a key aspect of the UK Bribery Act, however, have been seen as a fact of life in many countries in Asia, industry experts said. Despite the noise that the UK Bribery Act has created internationally, its effect has yet to trickle down to Vietnam, according to Vien. While there had been a few seminars and discussions on the potential implications of the Act for Vietnamese firms, greater awareness of the Act at both the government and company levels need to be achieved, she said.

Private sector initiative

Although the Anti-Corruption 2020 strategy and the Anti-Corruption Law 2005 have yet to fully recognise corruption in the private sector, Vien said there has so far been one private sector-led initiative, the Integrity and Transparency in Business Initiative for Vietnam, led by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The Integrity Transparency Business Initiative was mooted to raise awareness among business people across all industries including the financial services sector. It has set up a framework to mobilise the business community in Vietnam looking at the challenges of integrity, transparency and anti-corruption. Towards Transparency sits on its steering committee, provides the tools and experiences of Transparency International, as well as help businesses deal with their problems, Vien said.

Despite that the Anti-Corruption 2020 strategy has been deemed comprehensive by industry experts, anti-corruption efforts in the country have only just been inching forward. Those efforts, Vien said, have been beset chiefly by weaknesses in implementation and enforcement. The main challenge for Vietnam therefore lies in whether it is able to move at a greater speed from making legislations to implementation, particularly in enforcing them. "The framework is already there; the laws are there and Vietnam is also part of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC). But having the laws in place is not enough. The main challenge is to ensure that they are effectively implemented and enforced so as to increase the faith and confidence of the people," she said.

Vietnam, being a member of the UN Convention against corruption, is required to submit an annual report on the implementation of the convention. Ha noted that while Vietnam has made certain improvements in the letters of the law, the 2011 draft report offers little information on enforcement.

Lack of effective whistle-blowing provision

Vien also cited the need to translate political will to the next level in order to address issues on the bigger bribery cases instead of just focusing on petty corruption. She noted that a more enabling environment for the society and media to contribute towards the country's anti-corruption drive would need to be strengthened so that suspected cases of corruption can be more widely reported. "The current legislation, however, still reveals loopholes on whistle-blowing provisions to protect tipsters. We need a more effective legislation on how to protect whistleblowers and we know that the government is working on it," she added.

A general pessimism also pervades the Vietnamese people insofar as their attitude towards the country's ability to eradicate corruption is concerned. When asked in the Youth Integrity Survey if they would voluntarily report bribery cases, a great majority of young Vietnamese people said they would not, not for fear of receiving no protection but because they doubted those efforts would be of any help. The Youth Integrity Survey, conducted by Transparency International, measures the attitudes and experiences of young people towards integrity and corruption.

Although Vietnam signed up to UNCAC in 2003, it took the country six years to ratify it. "The government went through a big assessment process to ensure that Vietnam's laws are in line with the requirements of the international framework. On our side [Towards Transparency], we provided our views to the government on where we think Vietnam stands with its current implementation of UNCAC. By ratifying UNCAC, Vietnam is sending a message that anti-corruption is not only an international issue but also an international obligation that Vietnam has to fulfil," Vien said.