Sweden together with other international development partners have expressed their willingness support Vietnam in its combating and preventing corruption during the one-day mid-year Consultative Group Meeting for Vietnam held in Ha Long on June 1, 2007. The Consultative Group Meetings are organized by the World Bank and the Ministry of Planning and Investment.
In his intervention to the discussion on anti-corruption, the Ambassador of Sweden, Mr Rolf Bergman pointed out that Vietnam’s national anti-corruption strategy to 2020 should primarily to be directed towards the preventive side.
“The anti-corruption strategy should include and be linked to strategies to speed up implementation of public administration reform, legal/judicial reform and increased transparency, accountability and access to information.” Rolf Bergman said.
Commenting on the Government’s initiative to organize regular press conferences, Ambassador Rolf Bergman stressed that such conferences can only provide some of the information and it will be equally important for reporters to carry out investigative journalism, and to analyze, scrutinize and report relevant and accurate anti-corruption information from other sources as well.
This year’s mid-term CG Meeting for Vietnam was characterized as a frank and open dialogue between partners and a wide range of topics was discussed. They included Vietnam’s future economic prospects; the monitoring and evaluation of the Socio-Economic Development Plan 2006 – 2010; the next steps in the fight against corruption; the implementation of WTO commitments; and mechanisms through which to ensure better and faster utilization of Official Development Assistance.
Several development partners, including EU and Sweden expressed concern as regards the present Human Rights situation in Vietnam and urged the Government of Vietnam to make improvements. It was pointed out by partners that this concern was expressed by friends of Vietnam and it was emphasized that improvements of the political and civil Human Rights were essential also for a continued success for Vietnam’s economic development and growth. Other major challenges, currently confronting Vietnam such as water and sanitation services, HVI/AIDS and traffic safety were also discussed.
For more information please visit http://www.swedenabroad.com/SelectImageX/103886/WB_Press_Release.pdf
