The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) said it would ask Tokyo to stop soft loans to Vietnam unless bribery was brought into check.
Model of Hanoi Urban Railway Project Line 1
Yamamoto Kenichi, deputy head of JICA in Vietnam, expressed concern about the number of bribery cases linked to ODA-funded projects.
In 2008, Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reported that four former Pacific Consultants International executives had admitted paying USD820,000 in bribes to a Vietnamese official.
In late March, Japan Transportation Consultants Inc. (JTC) admitted to Yomiuri Shimbun it had given JPY80m to Vietnamese railway officials to win a contract of Hanoi Urban Railway Project Line 1. Six officials from Vietnam Railways were prosecuted for their abuse of power and negligence.
Kenichi said if a third case was uncovered, JICA would ask Japanese government to stop giving soft-loans to Vietnam. He will ask the government to return the bribes, but would continue funding the project.
JICA will collaborate with the Ministry of Fiance and the Ministry of Planning and Investment to build an effective supervising system. This system will be managed by a third party to prevent bribery and stagnant projects.
Deputy Minister of Construction said this is a complicated project and asked agencies to review the plan and calculate possible difficulties they would face.
Đăng ký: VietNam News