Deputy Inspector General Tran Ngoc Liem addresses the workshop in Hanoi on March 28 (Photo: dangcongsan.vn) Hanoi (VNA)– The UN Development Programme and the Government Inspectorate of Vietnamjointly held a consultation workshop in Hanoi on March 28 on a report on theuse of a new tool - the Provincial Anti-Corruption Assessment (PACA) index toassess anti- corruption work in provincial state agencies in Vietnam.
The event aimed to evaluatethe report and make recommendations on how to improve the accuracy andtrustworthiness of the PACA index in the time ahead.
Deputy InspectorGeneral Tran Ngoc Liem said that over the past few years, corruption preventionhas been a key task of the Party and State. As such, many policies and measureshave been carried out effectively in the field, including those designed toenhance the efficiency of state management over anti-corruption work.
This is the third yearthe Government Inspectorate has conducted the assessment of anti-corruptionwork at the provincial level.
Deputy head of theGovernment Inspectorate’s Bureau for Corruption Prevention and Control Phi NgocTuyen stated that the content of the PACA criteria are unclear and unspecific.
The GovernmentInspectorate’s working group will continue listening to ideas from localitiesand units so as to narrow the gap between the assessment criteria of theworking group and localities, Tuyen affirmed.
According to thereport, the average national PACA index based on assessment by localities was71.68 while the average index calculated by the Government Inspectorate was 58.37in 2016. Meanwhile, the figures in 2017were 67.33 and 60.67 in 217, respectively.
Participants said thatusing the PACA is a correct step towards building a stable, developing, andcorruption-free society. However, the PACA system piloted by the GovernmentInspectorate was rather complicated, requiring large volume of documents andhuman resources. In addition, it was conducted by provincial agencies which arealso state management agencies in the localities, without independentsupervision of third parties, so the assessment lacks objectivity.
They suggested engagingmore organisations and groups in the society in conducting the PACA index toensure the objectivity of the assessment.
It is also importantto create a more flexible set of criteria to allow provincial agencies to applyPACA at the district level. –VNA
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