The Ministry of Information and Communications’ efforts to reorganize local communications activities will also be checked.

Management of lands and minerals as well as investment in urban and industrial areas at five provinces – Bac Ninh, Quang Nam, Binh Thuan and Dak Lak together with the Mekong Delta City of Can Tho – will also come under the scanner.

Several economic entities like the Vinashin (Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group), Bao Viet Holdings and Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam will also be inspected.

According to the inspectorate, over 2300 inspections conducted over the past months have found 255 groups and 790 individuals engaged in wrongdoing including corruption.

In the latest Corruption Perception Index 2009 compiled by the non-governmental organization Transparency International, Vietnam ranks 120 out of 180 countries, moving up by one place compared to last year.

The country’s index, however, is unchanged at 2.7 on a scale ranging from 1 to 10, according to the index based on 13 different expert and business surveys.

New Zealand tops the ranking as least corrupt country, followed by Denmark and Singapore, while Myanmar, Afghanistan and Somalia languish at the bottom of the list.

Reported by Thanh Nien staff