Thayer Consultancy Background Briefing:

ABN # 65 648 097 123

Vietnam’s Anti-Corruption
Campaign in 2018 and Prospects
for 2019
Carlyle A. Thayer
December 31, 2018
We request your assessment of Vietnam’s corruption crackdown in 2018.
Q1. With many trials held and the arrests of top officials, how would you assess the
momentum of the anti-corruption campaign in Vietnam this year?
ANSWER: The momentum of Vietnam’s anti-corruption campaign in 2018 increased
markedly and widened its scope. In 2018, there were a number of high-profile trials
of officials charged with massive fraud connected to the state-owned Petro Vietnam
Construction Joint Stock Company and Sacom, Ocean and Vietnam Construction
banks. Petro Vietnam’s chief executive officer was sentenced to death and Trinh
Xuan Thanh, a Petro Vietnam executive, was sentenced to two life terms in prison.
The anti-corruption campaign extended its reach by indicting high-level party and
state officials. In March, Dinh La Thang became the first member of the Politburo to
be sentenced to prison; he was given two prison sentences of thirteen and eighteen
years, respectively. In addition, Trương Minh Tuấn, Minister of Information and
Communications, was dismissed. Bùi Văn Thành a deputy minister in the Ministry of
Public Security and Đinh Ngọc Hệ, Chairman of the military’s Thái Sơn Joint Stock
Company were arrested.
The anti-corruption campaign resulted in the disciplining of party officials in Da Nang
and Ho Chi Minh cities as well as several provincial officials. Finally, Da Nang real
estate tycoon Phan Văn Anh Vũ was sentenced to jail.
Q2. What direction will the anti-corruption campaign take next year and how will it
affect the country’s political and economic situation?
ANSWER: After the ninth plenum of the party Central Committee in late December it
was announced that since the twelfth national party congress in 2016, over sixty
officials “under the management of the party Central Committee” were disciplined,
including five incumbent members of the Central Committee, three of whom were
expelled.
The anti-corruption campaign in 2019 will impact on networks of corruption and
punish officials who are guilty of acts of commission – engaging in corrupt practices –
and acts of omission – failing to exercise responsibility to expose and end corruption.
Because the party is seeking to identify six hundred strategic cadres as future
leaders, the anti-corruption campaign will lead leadership change at provincial and
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national level. The anti-corruption campaign is popular with the public and
successful prosecution of this campaign will restore popular trust.
Members of the Politburo and Central Committee are now preparing for the
selection of the next generation of leaders at the thirteenth national party congress
to be held in 2021. The current anti-corruption campaign is the signature initiative of
Secretary General Nguyen Phu Trong. Trong will not let up on his efforts to clean the
party of corrupt and degenerate party members and pursue the anti-corruption
campaign to weed out corrupt members in government ministries, departments and
state-owned enterprises. It is clear from developments in 2018 that corrupt high
level and lower level officials and state cadres will continue to be targeted. In short,
2019 will witness a continuation and possible intensification of the current anti-
corruption campaign.
The anti-corruption campaign will reap economic benefits for Vietnam. Foreign
investors will gain more confidence in the government because of the improved legal
environment. Corruption is like rust that eats away at the foundation of Vietnam’s
one-party state. Reducing corruption will strengthen the efficiency of state-owned
enterprises to compete in the market place.

Suggested citation: Carlyle A. Thayer, “Vietnam’s Anti-Corruption Campaign in 2018
and Prospects for 2019,” Thayer Consultancy Background Brief, December, 2018. All
background briefs are posted on Scribd.com (search for Thayer). To remove yourself
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other research support to selected clients. Thayer Consultancy was officially
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