The Party Central Committee’s Commission for Internal Affairs organised a workshop in Hanoi on October 29 with a view to perfecting anti-bribery regulations in the 1999 Penal Code with support from the United Nations Development Programme in Vietnam.

Experts, both domestic and international, discussed the challenges in enforcing the Penal Code’s regulations on bribery; identified differences between the regulations in the penal code and international anti-corruption conventions; and shared international experience in dealing with bribery and recalling the bribes.

Addressing the event, the commission’s deputy head Nguyen Doan Khanh said that even though Vietnam’s efforts on anti-corruption have shown some success, especially in terms of establishing institutions and implementing preventive measures, the overall targets have not been met due to weak mechanisms, policies and laws on corruption.

He stressed the need for Vietnam to revise and supplement its regulations on bribery, since the stipulations in the 1999 Penal Code were out-of-date and did not reflect the country’s socio-economic reality.

As a member of the UN Convention against Corruption, the country should undertake measures to ensure the effective enforcement of the convention, he added.-VNA