~ Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui. ~
The Vietnam News

[Year 1997]
[Year 1998]
[Year 1999]
[Year 2000]
[Year 2001]

Vietnam anti-graft decree targets govt officials

HANOI- Vietnam Prime Minister Phan Van Khai has signed a decree ordering top government employees to declare their personal assets in an attempt to prevent graft, an official said on Friday.

``This decision is aimed at protecting against corruption. Officials will declare their current assets but there will be no question about how they got them,'' the official from the Prime Minister's Office said by telephone.

``The information will be for future reference,'' he said. This meant if an official's declared personal assets rose markedly from one year to the next, there would be a probe.

Local media said on Friday assets worth more than 50 million dong ($3,600) would be declared, but it was unclear if this figure would be applied to individual items or the total. The official said the exact wording in the decree was not clear.

Current and future assets to be declared to the State Inspectorate included houses, land and other personal items.

The decree, which was signed on Monday and takes effect on September 1, only applies to government employees and not to senior officials of the ruling Communist Party.

However, most top government officials are also members of the Communist Party.

``In principle the government cannot issue rules for party officials,'' said the official from the Prime Minister's Office.

In March, Khai referred to ``epidemic'' corruption in Vietnam, but insisted it stopped short of the top echelons of power.

Nevertheless, graft has caused soul-searching among the Communist Party's ruling elite, especially after rural unrest last year that was partly triggered by local-level corruption.

The economic costs of graft in Vietnam are difficult to measure but they are mounting, businessmen say.

The official Vietnam News daily said the decree also applied to executives in state-run firms and barred family members from holding certain jobs at the offices or enterprises of highly-placed relatives.

Also targeted would be top officials of people's committees, or local government, across the country, the daily said.

It said officials were prohibited from depositing money abroad. If they had done so already, the funds must be transferred back to Vietnam.

Complaints from the public about corrupt officials must be handled within seven days, the decree added.

REUTERS - August 21, 1998.