Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Retired government officials will not be allowed to found, own orrun private companies in areas under the jurisdiction and management of theirformer posts for at least six months after retirement, heard a conference in Hanoion March 27.

This is the latest andmost notable rule among a series of legislative moves in Vietnam’s 2018Anti-corruption Law. In recent years, the Government has stepped up efforts toaddress the country’s rampant corruption, signalling it out as a threat to theGovernment’s legitimacy and a major hurdle to national development.

Retired officials whoseformer posts were with the Ministries of Industry and Trade; Planning andInvestment; Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs; Agriculture and Rural Development;Finance; Natural Resources and Environment; Construction; and Justice; theState Bank of Vietnam; the Government Inspectorate; the Government Office; andthe State Capital Investment Corporation will be barred from taking part intheir respective business areas for a period of 12 to 24 months.

Officials who workedunder the Ministries of Education and Training; Science and Technology;Culture, Sports and Tourism; and Health; the Vietnam Social Security and theCommittee for Ethnic Minority Affairs will see a 6 to 12 month ban.

The Ministries ofForeign Affairs; Public Security; and National Defence and other governmentalagencies are expected to follow suit and set up their own waiting periods fortheir retired officials.

Stricter regulations ongifting and receiving gifts were introduced in the country’s newanti-corruption law, under which public assets can only be gifted for charitypurposes or as part of a compensation programme for high-ranking publicservants and families of revolutionaries. Such activities will be under thesupervision and regulation of the Ministry of Finance.

Public servants whoreceived gifts are required to return them or report them within five days totheir respective office if returning them is not feasible.

Another highlight of the2018 Anti-corruption Law is the shifting focus to the private sector with finesranging from 200 USD to 4000 USD for bribery or helping with bribery. The lawis set to come into effect on July 1 this year.

The conference, whichwas held by the United Nations Development Programme and the GovernmentInspectorate, was part of a bigger project to promote a fair businessenvironment among ASEAN countries.

Speaking at theconference, Akiko Fujii, Deputy Country Director at UNDP Vietnam, stressed theimportance of fighting corruption. She identified it as one of the biggestobstacles to the country’s objective of achieving the Sustainable DevelopmentGoals by 2030.

The annual cost ofinternational corruption was estimated at 3.6 trillion USD, more than five percentof global GDP, according to a UN’s statement last year.-VNS/VNA