Petty corruption is common, say firms

Land is a corruption hot spot in Vietnam Photo: Le Toan

At last week’s 12th Anti-corruption Dialogue, the Government Inspectorate announced a corruption survey of over 832 individuals representing 232 foreign and local firms in Ho Chi Minh City, Haiphong and Danang cities as well as Vinh Phuc and Binh Duong provinces.

The survey, conducted during August-October 2013, revealed that 69 per cent of respondents were victims of petty corruption and 80 per cent believed petty corruption was common. The definition of petty corruption used in the survey included firms forced to pay small bribes to end harassment by officials or to smooth the work of civil servants.

Forms of harassment by public officials included intentionally prolonging the completion of tasks (reported by 63 per cent of correspondents), no explanation of the procedures to follow (58 per cent) and deliberately creating irrelevant requirements (48 per cent).

Some 81 per cent of firms believe petty corruption wasted time and created higher costs. ‘Unofficial costs’ or bribery payments were reckoned to account for 5 per cent of the annual operating costs of most companies.

In October 2013, the Vietnam Business Forum (VBF), an annual dialogue between the government and the private sector, also conducted a firm-oriented corruption survey of over 221 domestic and foreign-owned respondents from multiple sectors.

Respondents reported facing corruption in customs (55.2 per cent), taxation (46.2 per cent), and land administration (39.8 per cent).

Some 34 per cent of those surveyed said they would likely invest in a different country in the region or decided not to expand investment in Vietnam.

“The current levels of corruption are likely to dissuade other foreign companies from entering the Vietnamese market,” said a VBF Governance and Transparency Working Group representative.

A Government Inspectorate, Anti-Corruption Steering Committee and World Bank survey on corruption from the perspectives of 2,601 citizens, 1,058 local and foreign firms, and 1,801 public officials in 2012 showed 44 per cent of firms had to pay unofficial payments. Sixty per cent believed informal charges were costly and 39 per cent considered corruption a cause of concern.

“All of these figures mean the woes affecting businesses aren’t just about the state of the economy, but are also directly related to management-related issues within state agencies,” said Government Inspectorate deputy head Nguyen Van Thanh.

 Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc also said that “Businesses are victims of corruption and bribery.”n But he noted “Many firms take the initiative in offering bribes, so this also needs to be dealt with. To cope with corruption, firms need to tell authorised agencies which specific officials are harassing them.”