Senior officials from Vietnam and Japan gathered at a meeting in Hanoi on June 2 to discuss measures against corruption while implementing transport projects with official development assistance (ODA).

Regarding the alleged bribery of project officials by the Japan Transportation Consultants, Inc. (JTC), Japan hailed efforts by the Vietnamese Government and agencies to swiftly and strictly investigate the case.

The Japanese side raised their opinions about implementing ODA-funded projects in Vietnam and preventing similar corruption cases, should they arise.

The Vietnamese side told the guests about Vietnam’s measures to improve the implementation of transport projects, using Japan ’s ODA and prevent corruption in the field.

In an article published on March 20, the Yomiuri Shimbun – Japan’s biggest newspaper – reported that JTC President Tamio Kakinuma had admitted to paying "kickbacks" to foreign civil servants in Vietnam, Indonesia and Uzbekistan, in return for orders it received for ODA projects.

According to the newspaper, the JTC's illegal payments were made on some 40 occasions over five years, starting from 2008, and totalled 100 million JPY (about 980,000 USD) for orders it received for five ODA projects.-VNA