 Ha Noi (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung called on leaders of ministries and localities to take strict and synchronous measures for a more effective fight against corruption.
PM Dung, who is also Head of the Central Steering Committee on Corruption Prevention and Combat, made the call at a conference on corruption prevention in southern provinces held in Ho Chi Minh City on January 12.
Corruption prevention is one of the government’s key tasks in 2008, Dung said, adding that to this goal, the government will complete transparent institutions and administrative procedures regarding the management of land investment, projects, property, capital construction and budget spendings.
The Government leader also instructed ministries and localities to continue their close coordination in inspecting and investigating accused corruption behaviours, especially cases that are drawing much public concern.
Ministries and localities should work hard to raise public awareness of fighting corruption and promote the role of the mass media and the people in the work, he added.
At the conference, officials from 32 southern provinces and centrally-run cities focused their discussions on the lessons drawn from the anti-corruption fight in 2007 as well as orientations and tasks for 2008.
The central steering committee put forth nine measures to achieve the goal of making a breakthrough in the fight against corruption and wastefulness.
Last year, the country detected 584 graft cases with 1,299 offenders, causing total losses of over 865 billion VND (53 million USD). As many as 435 cases with 987 suspects were prosecuted and 360 cases with 843 defendants went on trial.-Enditem
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