Anti-corruption work in 2014 needs to be intensified and implemented more drastically, creating remarkable changes compared to 2013, a senior official of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) has said.

Pham Anh Tuan, Deputy Head of the CPV Central Committee’s Commission for Internal Affairs made the remarks in an interview granted for the Vietnam News Agency about important achievements in the fight against corruption in 2013 and key tasks for next years.

The Central Steering Committee for Anti-Corruption and its standing agency, the Commission for Internal Affairs, were put into operation in 2013.

In the context that the country experienced favourable conditions and challenges, the steering committee proved its key role in directing and collaborating in the fight against corruption in the whole country, making important contributions to improving the effectiveness of the task in the current situation, said the official.

Over the year, the steering committee set up seven working groups to inspect and supervise the investigation, prosecution and judgment of serious corruption cases, he added.

According to the Commission for Internal Affairs, during the year, authorized agencies handled 774 corruption cases or economic cases with signs of corruption with 1,974 accused, of which 707 cases with 1,595 people involved were prosecuted.

The figures reflected the complexity of corruption crimes across the country and the efforts of investigation agencies at all levels in the detection, investigation and prosecution of corruption cases, Tuan noted.

He stressed that during the year 2014, the Central Steering Committee for Anti-Corruption will continue to urge the acceleration of legal proceedings for serious and complicated corruption cases which draw the special attention of the public.-VNA