Ha Noi, 18 October 2022 – The UN Development Programme (UNDP) launched a new project today to strengthen Viet Nam’s implementation of the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), with the support from the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), State Department of United States of America, and UNDP Anti-Corruption for Peaceful and Inclusive Societies (ACPIS) Global Project.

As a result of comprehensive economic reforms in Viet Nam since 1986, the country’s economic growth has been ranked among the highest in the region. However, weaknesses in legal frameworks and law enforcement have allowed corruption to thrive. Recognizing that corruption is a main obstacle to economic development, the Vietnamese Communist Party and the Government have implemented substantial regulatory reforms to improve confidence of citizens, businesses, and foreign investors in public governance. This project aims to support these reforms.

Expected results of the 27-month project are (i) enhanced capacities of anti-corruption agencies in effective measurement and monitoring of SDG anticorruption targets, and increased participation of society in anti-corruption; (ii) strengthened anti-corruption legal framework and law enforcement in implementation of UNCAC commitments and recommendations on preventive measures and asset recovery; and (iii) improved capacity in good governance, transparency, and integrity in public health procurement in Viet Nam.

The project is a collaboration between UNDP and seven national partners, including the Central Commission for Internal Affairs, The Government Inspectorate of Viet Nam, the Ministry of Justice, Supreme People’s Procuracy, Supreme People’s Court, Ministry of Health, and the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Addressing the launch, UNDP Resident Representative Designate in Viet Nam Ramla Khalidi highlighted the need to involve all stakeholders in corruption control and prevention. “UNDP recognizes the importance of mainstreaming anti-corruption as a cross-cutting enabler for the broader development agenda and the need to incorporate anti-corruption measures in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda,” she said. “In this regard, we continue to work on strengthening the role of anti-corruption networks of governments, civil society, businesses and academia to promote a ‘whole-of-society approach’ to preventing and combating corruption”.

Ms. Khalidi also noted that ICT and new technologies could be a game changer in preventing and combating corruption. “There is clear synergy between the UNDP Digital Strategy and Viet Nam’s Digital Transformation Plan, and I look forward to further engagement with Government on supporting their digital transformation efforts over the coming years,” she said.

According to the Provincial Governance and Public Administration Performance Index (PAPI), after 10 years of progressive improvement, there was declining levels of satisfaction in 2021, for example with health services, particularly those provided by public district hospitals.  There was a slight annual increase in the number of citizens who revealed that bribes were necessary to realize better care at public district hospitals (from 27 to 28 percent). At the same time, overall control of corruption in the public sector saw the first decline, although not statistically significant (from 6.90 to 6.88 points) since the anti-corruption campaign was initiated by the Communist Party of Viet Nam in 2016.

These results demonstrate the complexity and challenges of governing through a global pandemic, which are not unique to Viet Nam but to all countries around the world. They also highlight the absolute necessity to further strengthen the implementation of UNCAC, to ensure a recovery from the pandemic that is fair to everyone and leaves no one behind.

In June of this year, in collaboration with UNDP, VCCI published a report on business perceptions of public procurement. The report found that over one third of businesses agree that “paying a commission is essential to improve chances of winning a contract”. This figure rises to 50% for businesses supplying medical equipment to public medical service providers.

“The cost of corruption is greater than the sum of lost money,” H.E Hilde Solbakken, Norwegian Ambassador to Viet Nam, stressed in her remarks. “It undermines the ability of the state to promote sustainable and inclusive growth. It drains public resources away from education, health care, and effective infrastructure - the kinds of investments that can improve economic performance and raise living standards for all”.

Corruption in public health procurement leads to inaccessibility of drugs and medical technologies, increased prices for patients, and further challenges the achievement of SDG 3 in relation to good health and wellbeing. For this reason, the portion of this project funded by the Norwegian Government, through the UNDP ACPIS Initiative, has a specific focus on improving anti-corruption and transparency in the health sector in Viet Nam.

INL-funded aspects of this project concentrate on other recommendations from the UNCAC 2nd Review Cycle Executive Summary Report such as improving policy, legal framework, and capacities in relation to asset recovery, expanding the definition of conflict of interest, supporting a pilot of a Ministerial Anti-Corruption Assessment Index, and improving engagement with non-state actors on anti-corruption.

The UN Convention Against Corruption is the only legally binding universal anti-corruption instrument. UNCAC and its Implementation Review Mechanism have been critical in stimulating anti-corruption reforms and strengthening national commitments to act against corruption. Government of Viet Nam ratified UNCAC in 2009 and since then has continued strengthening its implementation.

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For more information, please contact:

Nguyen Viet Lan, UNDP Communication Lead, phone: 0914436769; email: nguyen.viet.lan@undp.org

Nguyen Thi Thuy Duong, UNDP Communication Consultant, phone: 0983135799 nguyen.thi.thuy.duong@undp.org