Vietnam attaches a lot of importance to building up a law-governed state as well as the prevention of and fight against corruption, in a bid to create a fair investment environment to ensure the country’s rapid and sustainable development.

Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong opened his address to the fifth Southeast Asian Parliamentarians Against Corruption (SEA-PAC 5) Conference in Hanoi on September 29, by saying that the Vietnamese Party and State is adamant that it will reform the country’s administrative system to increase the effectiveness of state management.

The integrity of officials and the transparency and simplification of administrative procedures and processes were needed to ensure the right conditions for entrepreneurs to do businesses, he added.

Deputy PM Trong confirmed that the Vietnamese government has pledged to create the best possible conditions for Vietnam ’s Government Inspectorate, who takes over the Presidency of the SEA-PAC Secretariat for the 2009-2010 term, to enable it to contribute more positively and effectively to ongoing and future operations.

Deputy PM Trong also expressed his belief that the SEA-PAC 5 will be a useful forum for agencies fighting corruption and inspectors in the Southeast Asian region to share information and draw on lessons from the experiences of others. It will also be an opportunity for them to put forward suitable initiatives to boost cooperation and gradually stamp out corruption for the sake of the region’s prosperity.

Speaking at the conference, Inspector General of the Government Inspectorate Tran Van Truyen outlined the government’s efforts to introduce legislation related to anti-corruption and prevention measures and stated that the government would continue to consider this a major task in the future.

The conference will last until September 30 with top priority being given to anti-corruption efforts; measures to boost cooperation in SEA-PAC and the promotion of the SEA-PAC’s image in the region. During the first working session on September 29, the conference also discussed a number of issues which did not reach a consensus from the last meeting./.