"Vietnam can enhance integrity and efficiency of the public sector by adding regulations and laws to control some common forms of conflict of interest such as receiving gifts, favouring relatives, or using internal information for personal gain." It is identified in the Report on "Controlling conflicts of interest in public sector - Regulations and practice in Vietnam". The report was implemented by the World Bank and the Government of Vietnam with the support of the UK Government.
Vietnam has made outstanding achievements in economic development in the past three decades. However, according to the report, the transition from planned economy to market economy has prompted growing interaction between the public and private sector, and therefore the need to resolve the conflicts of interest found in the course of this interaction through legislation and better policy implementation.
Mr Nguyen Van Thanh, Deputy General Inspector of the Government said that the ultimate goal of this study was to recommend measures to the Government of Vietnam and other stakeholders to raise awareness and minimise conflict of interest situations that public employees face in their jobs, improve the quality of public sector institutions and promote the fight against corruption.
The report shows that knowledge of the conflict of interests in society and in the cadres, civil servants and employees is limited, and many forms of various conflicts of interest in the public sector has become the rules of the game, causing declining efficiency and integrity in public institutions.
"Vietnam aspires to become a prosperous country with modern institutions by 2035. Control of conflicts of interest is an essential condition to achieve such an aspiration, as it helps shaping the institutions, laws and regulations of the state and the market for the next generation," said Ousmane Dione, Country Director of the World Bank in Vietnam.
The report conducted among people, businesses, workers, civil servants and employees evaluated in a comprehensive manner the prevalence of conflicts of interest in six areas of activity of the public sector, including: providing public service; recruitment, appointment and procurement; licensing and approval of projects; inspection and testing; and handling violations. Tender management, licensing and approval of projects, appointment and recruitment are the most three areas with the highest potential for conflicts of interest.
The study results showed that current legal texts have not provided a formal concept of controlling conflicts of interest in a systematic way in the public sector.
The majority of respondents do not correctly understand the concept of conflict of interest. Businesses and civil servants joining discussion groups said that almost all the gifts for the civil servants contain personal interest elements, even bribes. Therefore, traditional cultural values do not promote the handling of conflicts of interest.
Nearly 70 percent of enterprises and civil servants know about giving / receiving gifts and said that the purpose of giving gifts is to help with their jobs. Enterprises and civil servants commonly perceive that giving gifts has become "mainstream", "usual", and even "rules of the game". Many companies give gifts to not be "discriminatory", while civil servants give presents to show their sensibility. Many measures to control conflicts of interest as prescribed by law have not been implemented. Between 25-40 percent of civil servants said their agencies do not implement measures to control conflicts of interest as prescribed.
To control conflicts of interest effectively, the report recommends raising awareness and understanding of conflicts of interest for officials and public servants, people and businesses. Additionally, Vietnam needs to improve policies and legislation to control conflicts of interest. The report recommends the government adopt a uniform definition of conflict of interest, as well as mechanisms to prevent, detect and handle violations of conflict of interest in the legal framework for corporate governance in Vietnam. Another thing to do is to expand the scope of application of the provisions on conflicts of interest, put into law some new regulations as well as amendments to the current restrictions on conflicts of interest in Vietnam: build concepts and set up mechanisms to control conflicts of interest; expand the scope of regulation of the legal provisions on conflicts of interest; amend regulations on giving and receiving gifts; review and adjust the provisions on participation in activities outside the public service and after retiring from state bodies; and strengthen the control of assets and income.
According to the report, Vietnam should assign responsibility to monitor, support and recommend solutions to handle violations and situations involving conflicts of interest, encouraging the role of social supervision, enterprises and the media to control conflicts of interest.
Mr Giles Lever, UK Ambassador to Vietnam, confirmed that controlling conflicts of interest is not only an effective way to help improve the efficiency of allocation of public resources, but also to strengthen integrity and prevent corruption in the public sector.
Anh Mai
Vietnamese
