According to Swedish Ambassador, to achieve the goal in fighting corruption, especially in land management, Vietnam needs to ensure the transparency of public documents, transparency at courts and transparency in the decision-making process.

Speaking at a dialogue on “Corruption in land administration and use in Vietnam” which was held in Hanoi on November 25, Swedish Ambassador Staffan Herrstrom said that Vietnam has achieved significant results but it is not enough.

According latest surveys, over 86 percent of families in Vietnam acknowledged of corruption in land administration and land use. Some 33 percent of enterprises said they had to give presents or unofficial payments to officials to get land-use certificates.

He said law enforcement and the supervisory system in Vietnam is still weak because up to 90 percent of conflicts people are involved in are related to land. The right of land-use registration procedure is cumbersome, bureaucratic and only one percent of complainers felt satisfied. This facilitates the development of corruption.

“Corruption always hurts disadvantaged people and remarkably affects the country’s investment climate and hinders economic growth,” Herrstrom said.

Based on the corruption equation (corruption = monopoly + self decision-making power – responsibility to explain – transparency), the Swedish Ambassador said that for Vietnam, the most important thing in combating corruption, especially in land administration, is ensuring the transparency of public documents and information, transparency it courts and in the decision-making process.

James Anderson, senior expert from the World Bank, said strengthening of  transparency in land administration is need in Vietnam.

Based on the recent research work by the Embassies of Denmark and Sweden and the World Bank, Anderson said that polices on revoking and granting land have created privileges. The land prices set by officials (not the market) also creates “great privileges”.

In addition, in Vietnam, the lack of transparency in allocating land and dealing with land allocating needs also makes the development of land-related corruption.

To curb corruption in this field, Anderson suggested that Vietnam needs to deal with basic reasons that create “great privileges”. Vietnam also needs to heighten people’s access to information about land administration and protect denouncers.

The Government Chief Inspector Tran Van Truyen said corruption in Vietnam is associated with officials so corruption is complicated.

“Corruption in some areas and locations has reduced but in general, it is not prevented and rolled backed,” Truyen admitted.

He said many solutions must be attempted. “But we focus on administrative reforms because if this issue is not solved, other measures will not be effective,” Truyen said.

Nguyen Dinh Quyen, from the National Assembly’s Justice Committee, said that corruption mainly occurs at grassroots level, especially commune and ward-level agencies. The number of corruption cases at central agencies is not many but in all cases, the sums of money in corruption cases are extremely large.Moreover, the corruptors were not punished strictly.

The Anti-Corruption Dialogue takes place twice a year and is co-organized by the Embassy of Sweden and Vietnam’s development partners, the Government Inspectorate and the Office of the Central Steering Committee for Anti-Corruption on behalf of the Vietnamese Government.

According to a survey recently conducted by the Embassy of Sweden, the Embassy of Denmark and the WB, corruption in land use and management in Vietnam is worsening, as 85 percent of the surveyed households said there was corruption in this field and 30 percent of the targeted businesses said they had to give bribes in order to get certificates of land use.

The survey, which was carried out in five cities and provinces – Lang Son, Bac Ninh, Binh Dinh, HCM City and Tien Giang – shows that corruption mainly occurs in exclusive agencies, bodies with low accountability and decision makers.

PV