Local firms also take blame for officials’ corruption Local enterprises have become more actively involved in bribe taking and giving in a vicious cycle that they should somehow be able to escape, said an expert from the World Bank in a seminar in HCMC last week.    Speakers are seen at the seminar. Up to 75% of the corporate respondents say they have given bribes despite not being demanded to do so. Soren Davidsen from the World Bank (WB) told a seminar in HCMC on Thursday that Vietnamese enterprises were believed to have played an active role in giving bribes to corrupt officials. The seminar, one of activities held before the anti-corruption dialogue between the Government and international donors in Hanoi next month, was organized by the Government Inspectorate, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the British Embassy in Vietnam. More than 75% of the enterprises when asked said they had given bribes despite not being suggested to do so while 59% of the surveyed companies informed they had handed gifts or money to State officials, Davidsen quoted the figures from a recent survey conducted by the WB and the Inspectorate. Meanwhile, 63% of the corporate respondents replied that they gave unofficial monies to create an implicit mechanism so that their business troubles would be solved quickly. “This means that local companies have played a role in creating the vicious circle of corruption,” he stressed. The process began with a civil servant intentionally causing troubles in procedures, prompting companies to offer bribes to get the troubles removed, he explained. The official has then repeated the deplorable action since then for illegal gains. Business in HCMC said that corruption was one of the three most headache-causing problems they were facing after price hikes and falling revenue, Davidsen said. Quoting the surveys on corruption faced by local enterprises conducted by the WB and the Inspectorate between 2007 and 2012, Davidsen said that as local firms have seen no signs of corruption abating, they think the practices have become more widespread now. According to Nguyen Quang Vinh of the Business Office for Sustainable Development under VCCI, around 50-60% of the respondents in the provincial competitiveness index survey conducted by VCCI annually reported their problems had been handled upon the unofficial expense payment. “This means that the number of enterprises failing to have their problems solved after giving unofficial expenses is very high,” Vinh said. According to Davidsen, up to 88% of those polled attributed State officials’ corruption to their worsening ethical merits while up to 79% of State officials blamed their bad deeds on low wages. Lawyer Tran Trong Tien from the Phap Tien Law Office warned local enterprises of continuing to suffer from corruption if they did not manage to improve legal knowledge themselves. However, the fact shows that local authorities and entities now are seeking ways to wipe out corruption. In particular, Le Thanh Nguyen, director of the hi-tech business incubator at the Saigon Hi-tech Park, said his park had signed covenants on anti-corruption with 13 firms operational there like Intel, FPT Software Company and DGS Electronic Company. The covenants include supporting business morality and business operation subject to legal compliance and fighting corruption and power abuse. Source: SGT