CPI 2020: Vietnam to step up anti-corruption efforts for more substantial changes
28 January 2021 – Transparency International (TI) launched the 2020 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI 2020), scoring 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, according to experts and business people.
Vietnam scored 36/100, down by 1 point compared to 2019, ranking 104/180 on the global index. While lower than the average score of ASEAN (42/100), Vietnam’s CPI score exceeds those of the Philippines, Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia.
Source: Transparency International (2020)
In recent years, Vietnam has witnessed a positive trend in CPI scores. According to Towards Transparency, this progress reflects the strengthened anti-corruption efforts of the Vietnamese Communist Party and the State, especially in enhancing the investigation, prosecution, and trial of several grand corruption cases. However, the CPI 2020 score shows that Vietnam needs to step up its anti-corruption efforts more drastically to ensure substantial changes, and achieve breakthroughs in the next period.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Kieu Vien, Executive Director of Towards Transparency, said: “In 2020, Vietnam achieved encouraging results and created a great consensus between the State and its people in controlling COVID-19 thanks to transparent and timely communication. This shows that transparency, integrity, accountability, and citizen participation are key to social cohesion, enhancing people’s trust in the State’s and Government’s leadership. This experience should be applied to the fight against corruption”.
For more effective anti-corruption results in Vietnam, Towards Transparency proposes the following recommendations to the Vietnamese Party and State:
First, ensure the effective implementation of the Anti-Corruption Law 2018, the Law on Access to Information 2016 and its guiding documents, especially the regulations and measures on asset declaration and disclosure by public officials and civil servants and managing conflicts of interest.
Second, study, identify, and adopt appropriate preventive measures for each form of corruption, especially state capture – a form of corruption where there is close collusion between high-ranking officials and corporations with political and economic power to manipulate public policies for private gains at the expense of the public interest; and address corruption risks associated with the response to COVID-19.
Third, step up institutional reforms and consolidate government efforts towards open governance to effectively promote the role of non-state actors, such as civil society organizations, businesses, the media, and citizens in anti-corruption; at the same time, promote the use of information and communications technology (ICT) in the fight against corruption.
Further reading on the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI)
| FAQs on CPI | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
| Full key messages from Towards Transparency (TT) to the Government and society of Vietnam | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
| Transparency International’s Press release on CPI | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
| Full sources description | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
| Technical Methodology Note | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
Info-graphics on CPI