The Central Steering Committee for Corruption Prevention and Fight convened its fifth meeting in Hanoi on July 9 under the chair of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.

Speaking at the event, General Secretary Trong pointed to existing shortcomings in institution building, communication activities and coordination between authorised agencies.

He emphasized the need to enhance the building of institutions in order to deal with legal loopholes.

During the meeting, participants discussed a draft report on the anti-corruption situation and results in the first six months of 2014 and tasks for the remaining months of the year, and a draft plan on the inspection of investigations and prosecution of serious corruption cases in several localities.

In the first half of this year, more than 3,500 administrative inspections and nearly 78,000 specialised ones were conducted nationwide, uncovering economic violations involving more than 10 trillion VND (470 million USD). The inspections also brought to light 23 cases and 32 suspects relating to corruption with total money of 68.5 billion VND (3.2 million USD).

Investigation agencies started legal proceedings against 198 suspects in 102 corruption cases, while people’s procuracies at all levels prosecuted 122 cases with 277 defendants involved, and people’s courts at all levels tried 84 corruption cases with 217 defendants.

In the time ahead, the steering committee plans to establish four delegations in charge of inspecting the investigation and prosecution of serious corruption cases in eight provinces, including Ninh Binh, Quang Ninh, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Binh Dinh, Khanh Hoa, Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Bac Lieu.

Inspections will also be conducted in several ministries and central organisations, including the Ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development, Defence, Finance, and Transport in the second half of the year.-VNA