Anti-corruption missions must support socio-economic development: top leader

Party General Secretary, President Tô Lâm chairs the meeting on fighting corruption and misconduct on Wednesday. — VNA/VNS Photo Trí Dũng

HÀ NỘI — Party General Secretary, President Tô Lâm on Wednesday chaired the 26th meeting of the Central Steering Committee on Anti-Corruption and Anti-Misconduct, highlighting that this mission must support socio-economic development, rather than hindering growth.

Addressing the meeting, he also praised internal affairs, inspection, auditing, armed forces and justice departments on their coordination in the fight against corruption and radically addressing wrongdoings among multiple sectors and localities.

The Party chief and President stressed that all levels of the Party and authorities must stay focused in the future to relentlessly pursue comprehensive measures against corruption and misconduct, on the principle of setting examples and having “no forbidden zones, no exceptions, regardless of who are involved.”

According to a report by the Party’s internal affairs commission presented at the meeting, since the beginning of 2024, inspection, supervision and auditing have been stepped up to strictly address wrongdoings, with leaders held accountable and breakthroughs recorded in anti-corruption work.

In the first half of this year, 14 central officials and 174 local officials were retired or reallocated from their positions due to their responsibility in corruption and misconduct cases.

These include five Politburo members, one Party Secretariat member and four Party Central Committee members.

Investigation and judicial proceedings have been carried out with determination and strict adherence to rules and regulations.

In the first six months of 2024, disciplinary measures were issued to a total of 308 Party organisations and 11,005 Party members.

The Party Central Committee, the Politburo, the Secretariat and the Central Inspection Commission also disciplined 47 officials under their management.

Approximately VNĐ71.43 trillion (US$2.85 billion) and 24.9 hectares of land are subjected to confiscation and administrative fines as a result of inspection and audit work.

Investigation and judicial proceedings were launched against 2,836 cases of corruption, economic crime and position abuse with 5,975 defendants.

These include major violations at Sài Gòn Joint Stock Commercial Bank (SCB), Vạn Thịnh Phát Group, An Đông Investment Group JSC, FLC Group, Tân Hoàng Minh Group, AIC Group and the Vietnam Register, among others.

Various measures have been taken to identify and recover assets in corruption cases. Specifically among the cases under the supervision by the anti-corruption central steering committee, civil judgment enforcement agencies have recovered nearly VNĐ7.75 trillion ($309 million) since the beginning of this year.

This brought the total corrupt assets recovered since the establishment of the steering committee to VNĐ85.5 trillion ($3.4 billion).

Media agencies have effectively carried out communication on the continuous fight against corruption and misconduct and promoting the directions of the late Party General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng on this matter.

Stating key missions in the immediate future, Lâm stressed radically addressing unfinished tasks, especially regarding the appraisal of assets, document evidence, judicial assistance as well as recovering corrupt assets.

Policies and frameworks must also be perfected to prevent corruption and misconduct in accordance with amendment proposals from competent agencies, he added.

Lâm also ordered more stringent, comprehensive and effective actions in inspection, supervision and auditing into sectors that are prone to corruption, in alignment with the direction of the anti-corruption central steering committee.

Communication should be strengthened to prevent corruption and misconduct, build a culture of integrity among public officials, Party members and the public, while using the role of socio-political organisations and press agencies in this mission.

It is also necessary to enhance the effectiveness of the Central Steering Committee on Anti-Corruption and Anti-Misconduct, Lâm added, while addressing ‘petty corruption’ and creating more significant changes in the fight against corruption and misconduct at the local level.

The top leader emphasised that these missions must be implemented from the grassroots level, under the supervision of public officials, Party members and the people.

The Party’s directions on anti-corruption and anti-misconduct must be included in the monthly meeting of local-level Party organisations and reach every Party member. — VNS