UNDP Country Director in Vietnam Caitlin Wiesen at the thematic discussion. (Photo: baoquocte.vn) Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam needs a number of mechanisms to ensure theenforcement of the 2015 Penal Code regulations regarding the act of bribing foreignpublic officials, according to a study carried out by the United NationsDevelopment Programme (UNDP) in Vietnam and the Hanoi Law University.
At the thematic discussion held in Hanoi on February 28, UNDP Country Directorin Vietnam Caitlin Wiesen highlighted that control of corruption must be spedup for sustainable development of all nationsand societies.
The UNDP supports the study as part of efforts to share experience with Vietnamin penalising the bribery of foreign public officials, thus helping the countrycomplete its legal framework to combat corruption in the business sector, shesaid.
A member of the research group, PhD Dao Le Thu, director of the comparativelegal research centre under the Hanoi Law University, said that global economicintegration has increased the risks of local investors giving bribes to officialsat foreign governments, agencies and organisations to seek competitive advantagesin international trade and investment.
The US, the UK, Japan, the Republic of Korea and China, which have criminalizedthe act of offering bribes to foreign officials, were chosen as case studies inservice of this study, she noted.
The bribery of foreign cadres should be prescribed in the anti-corruption law toensure comprehensive legal mechanism, the group suggested.
Gerry Macgowan, a representative from the British Embassy in Vietnam, said thatBritain’s Bribery Act 2010, an act that covers the criminal law relating tobribery, was issued in 2010 and takes effect from 2011. It is considered as oneof the world’s most stringent laws.
He pointed to the need to have a strong enforcement strategy as well as theinvolvement of legislative organisations, human resource training,infrastructure, and other support techniques for the law enforcement forces to dealwith the bribery of foreign public officials.
The study recommended that Vietnam should improve its cooperative mechanism indetecting and addressing the bribery of foreign officials and raising the lawenforcement officers’ awareness of the bribery cases.-VNA
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